Verkhniy Lars checkpoint closed due to landslide threat

Traffic along the Georgian Military Road and the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border have been closed after a landslide threat signal; people have been evacuated from the checkpoint area. Ukrainians who were not allowed into Georgia have been standing in the back of a car for five hours after being evacuated.  

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, by July 16, 90 Ukrainian citizens were waiting to be allowed into Georgia after being expelled from Russia. They are forced to live in an unfinished customs terminal in the Georgian part of Upper Lars near the Dariali checkpoint, in a building without utilities in unsanitary conditions. Only a volunteer organization provides them with food, water, and medicine. On July 20, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that they were denied entry to Georgia due to their criminal past and invalid documents.

On the evening of July 31, the Georgian authorities announced that the work of the Kazbegi customs checkpoint on the Georgian-Russian border had been suspended. An early warning system was activated, warning of a landslide threat, after which the checkpoint personnel and people there were evacuated, and the police closed the road near the border, Novosti-Gruzia reports.

The passage of goods and passengers across the border has been stopped. “All relevant units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are working on site for the purpose of monitoring. There are no casualties,” the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement.

The Georgian Military Road connecting Russia with Georgia is closed to all types of transport, the head of North Ossetia, Sergei Menyailo, reported in his Telegram channel. “The reason is the threat of mudflows on the Georgian side. Travel will be restricted until further notice. I ask everyone who was planning or is already expecting to cross the state border to be understanding of the temporary restrictions,” he wrote.

According to Tbilisi life, among those evacuated from the checkpoint were Ukrainian citizens - about 100 people who have been in the basement on the territory of the border point for two months. “After the landslide, they reported the evacuation of people from the Russian-Georgian border checkpoint Dariali/Upper Lars. They are also evacuating Ukrainian citizens who are stuck there due to the fault of the Georgian and Ukrainian authorities,” the channel said.

Later, the channel published a video about how Ukrainians were evacuated from the checkpoint: in the back of a truck, people are forced to stand, holding on to the handrails under the roof of the truck. They were taken 700 meters from the checkpoint deep into Georgian territory and “thrown in the back to stand.” According to the latest information, the Ukrainians have been forced to stand in the packed back for about five hours straight.

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