Defense Minister: Georgia to Release Russian Military Officers

On Friday, Georgia will release three Russian military officers that were detained by the Georgian Military Police in the South Ossetian conflict zone on February 8, Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili said at a news conference.

The Georgian law enforcers detained Russian officers in the Georgian village of Kurta, citing that they had no Georgian entry visas. The Georgian Foreign Ministry said on February 9 that deportation procedures of three Russian officers were underway, as did not passports either.

Okruashvili said on Friday that the Georgian side will hand over the three Russian officers to observers from the OSCE monitoring mission in the Georgian village of Kekhvi, in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

The Russian side will be responsible for their departure to Russia. “We give them 24 hours to leave the country,” Defense Minister Okruashvili said.

“Incidents of this kind may repeat in future if the Russian side does not apply the Georgian Foreign Ministry for visas in advance… We will not compromise when the observance of law is concerned, but we will also do our best not to lose control over the situation in the region,” he added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned on February 9 detention of the three officers as “a provocation.”