Georgian Citizen Arrested Near South Ossetia Contact Line

TBILISI – A Georgian citizen identified as Levan Giunashvili was arrested by Russian border guards on Monday near the internationally recognized contact line that separates Georgia from its breakaway region South Ossetia.

South Ossetia’s state security services, still known by the Soviet-era name the KGB, said Giunashvili was arrested for allegedly taken part in what the Russian-backed separatist regime called “terrorist activities”.

The South Ossetian KGB said Giunashvili, a resident of the nearby village of Disevi, had been an active member of several paramilitary organizations since 2004. They also claim that Giunashvili attempted to set off high explosives on the South Ossetian side of the contact line in 2007 and actively took part in the 2008 five-day war between Russia and Georgia, where he allegedly shot and killed a pro-Moscow soldier.

Immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian-backed rebels in Abkhazia broke away from Georgia. Moscow occupied and effectively annexed the area, as well as Georgia’s other breakaway South Ossetia region.

The wars left hundreds dead and led to the ethnic cleansing of thousands of ethnic Georgians. Moscow recognized South Ossetia and the other Russian-occupied region Abkhazia as independent states following the 2008 war.

International law and the United Nations continue to state that the regions remain parts of Georgia.

By Nicholas Waller