A Georgian citizen has been released in South Ossetia.
Security forces in South Ossetia have released a Georgian citizen detained for crossing the border.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," security forces in South Ossetia regularly detain Georgian residents on charges of border violations. For example, in September 2025, in the Znaur district of South Ossetia (near the village of Zemo Khviti in Georgia's Gori Municipality), security forces detained a Georgian citizen who, according to them, illegally crossed the border. The man said he wanted to visit relatives in the village of Isak-kau.
Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be Russian-occupied territories after Russia intervened in the armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia on August 8, 2008, and subsequently recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Following this, the Georgian parliament voted to sever diplomatic relations with Russia, according to a "Caucasian Knot" report on the "Five-Day War.".
A Georgian citizen who was detained in Akhalgori (Ossetian name - Leningor) on August 9, 2025, has been released and is in territory controlled by the Georgian authorities, the country's State Security Service reported.
"In the process of releasing the illegally detained Georgian citizen, all relevant tools at the disposal of the central authorities were actively used. The central authorities and the State Security Service continue to actively work to release all Georgian citizens illegally detained in the occupied territories," Interpressnews quotes the SSS statement.
Information on the website of the KGB of South Ossetia, as of 10.08. Moscow time, unavailable. "A critical error has occurred on the website," the website's notice stated.
As a reminder, in June 2023, the Georgian State Security Service announced a new seizure of territory during borderization in the vicinity of the village of Khurvaleti, where border guards erected posts and strung barbed wire. According to activists, these structures were installed 150 meters from the home of a resident.
In June 2025, the Public Defender of Georgia published a report stating that 70 people were detained along the demarcation line in 2024 , including 36 on the border with South Ossetia and 34 on the border with Abkhazia, including two women and two minors. By the end of 2024, at least 14 people were being held in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and according to the ombudsman, they reported harsh conditions.
In 2018, the Georgian Ministry of Justice filed a complaint, "Georgia v. Russian Federation," with the ECHR concerning the harassment of ethnic Georgians in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, violations of the rights of residents of border villages, and "borderization." On April 9, 2024, the ECHR ruled that Russian authorities violated the rights of Georgian citizens by establishing a demarcation line.
This ECHR decision has political significance, but its practical implementation is only possible in the distant future, Georgian analysts noted.