Russia and Georgia have set up a “basement” for Ukrainians on their common border, volunteers say (video)

People are not being held in this building by force, but they also have nowhere else to go.

Russia and Georgia have set up a “basement” on their common border for Ukrainian citizens whom both countries do not want to let into their territory. This was reported by the Tbilisi life Telegram channel with a reference to the Volunteers Tbilisi project.

According to volunteers, the so-called basement has been operating at the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border since at least 2023. This is a facility where Ukrainians who were expelled from Russia but whom Georgia refuses to let into its territory are forcibly housed – usually due to their lack of documents. Most of these people are former prisoners of Ukrainian prisons in the occupied territory. Russia took them out of these colonies and then decided to deport them.

According to the volunteers, usually 5 to 10 people are in this basement at the same time, but now their number has increased to 35-36 people. And the most surprising thing is that half of them have documents with them, but Georgia still refuses to let them into its territory. At the same time, the volunteers emphasize that not all the people who ended up in this basement are former prisoners: there are also ordinary residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine, whom Russia took to itself and then deported.

It is noted that the living conditions in the basement are terrible. There are only 17 beds, so people have to sleep in turns. Since most of them are former prisoners, most have latent tuberculosis, it is also possible that many are HIV-positive.

The volunteers call the situation a “humanitarian crisis that threatens to turn into a catastrophe.” In particular, because, according to the information available to the volunteers, Russia intends to send about a hundred more Ukrainians there in the near future.

Tbilisi does not provide any explanations – neither official nor unofficial – as to why Ukrainians are not allowed into Georgia.

“The Ukrainian embassy is helping, but extremely slowly, due to limited resources. Meanwhile, border guards, who, however, are not obliged to provide food to these people, brought them a box of expired stew/pate and bread so that they “do not die of hunger,” the volunteers noted.

Basement for Ukrainians in Verkhny Larsiye

Ukrainians in Georgia: latest news

As UNIAN reported, in April Georgia sharply reduced the terms of visa-free stay for Ukrainian citizens . Initially, Ukrainians were allowed to freely stay in the country for up to one year. In 2023, this period was increased to two years, and a year later – to three years.

However, a new resolution of the Georgian government rolled back these rules to the original version: Ukrainians can stay in Georgia without a visa for no more than one year in a row.

(C)UNIAN 2025