Denis Kulanin is prohibited from leaving for a third country without a court decision.
Lawyer Tsiala Ratiani reported that pardoned Russian Denis Kulanin will not be able to leave Georgia tomorrow, September 1, despite having a ticket to a third country. Activists and human rights defenders announced a rally tomorrow morning at the Migrant Temporary Detention Center in Tbilisi, demanding that Kulanin be allowed to travel to a safe country.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Denis Kulanin, placed in a migration center in Tbilisi after his pardon, ended his dry hunger strike, which he had been conducting due to fears of deportation to Russia.
30-year-old Russian citizen Denis Kulanin was detained on March 28, 2025, on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi and taken into custody on charges of damaging a police car during a protest. In court, he apologized for his actions and pleaded guilty. In early June, the court sentenced him to two years in prison. Denis Kulanin's name is included in the list of political prisoners in Georgia. At the end of February 2026, he declared a hunger strike due to being placed in a punishment cell. On August 27, he was pardoned by the President of Georgia, Mikheil Kavelashvili, on the occasion of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mariamoba. On August 29, it became known that Kulanin began a dry hunger strike due to fears of being deported to Russia and the lack of information about the whereabouts of his passport. The issue of deportation was considered on August 30, and activists purchased a ticket for Kulanin to a third country.
According to a migration service employee, the agency plans to go to court to request his expulsion. He will only be allowed to leave the country after receiving a court decision, the Apus initiative group of human rights defenders, researchers, and lawyers reported on their Telegram channel, citing lawyers.
According to lawyers who regularly handle cases of the expulsion of foreigners, the agency previously did not require foreigners to wait for a court decision if they were leaving the country voluntarily. Given this, the new requirements, which were not previously applied in the practice of the migration department, raise particular concern as they effectively hinder the departure of a foreign citizen.
At the meeting on August 30, neither the court nor the representative of the migration department objected to his departure from Georgia. According to human rights defenders, the situation regarding the possible deportation to Russia has escalated again. Mechanisms are currently being developed to involve international organizations in providing assistance.
Tomorrow, September 1, at 9:00 AM, a rally will take place at the Migrant Temporary Detention Center in Tbilisi, civil activist Marina Meskhi reported on her Facebook page.*
According to her, the participants of the rally intend to address the Migration Department with a demand to allow Russian citizen Denis Kulanin to travel to a safe third country. "He has a ticket for the flight on September 1, 12:40 to Yerevan, which was presented to both the Tbilisi City Court and the Migration Department at yesterday's court hearing," the activist wrote.
As Marina Meskhi notes, according to the law, Kulanin has the right to voluntarily leave for a third country, as he may face danger if he returns to Russia.
Earlier, human rights defender Stanislav Dmitrievsky reported that Kulanin bought a ticket to Yerevan for September 1. "Today, the threat of Denis Kulanin's deportation from Georgia to Russia has passed. The Tbilisi City Court ruled to allow Denis to fly to Yerevan; the ticket is purchased for September 1. He was on a dry hunger strike for two days because he was threatened in the migration prison with deportation to Russia if his passport was not found," Dmitrievsky wrote on his Facebook page.*
Protesters in Georgia have been demanding new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners since November 28, 2024. Security forces have conducted harsh crackdowns on protests, using tear gas and water cannons, and have detained protesters. During the protests, thousands of people have faced administrative prosecution. "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report on "The Main Points on the Persecution of Protest Participants in Georgia".