Trapped Ukrainian ex-convicts on Russian-Georgian border threaten to self harm

Eight Ukrainian men remain trapped in the no man’s land between Russia and Georgia after being allowed to leave Russia but denied entry to Georgia, Novaya Europe has learned from the Volunteers Tbilisi project.

The men are ex-convicts who were forcibly taken to Russia from Ukraine’s Kherson region. The group initially numbered 16 men, aged between 25 and 55, but eight prisoners were granted entry to Georgia on Wednesday.

The ex-convicts are waiting for bureaucratic issues to be solved, requiring special documents to enter Georgia. From there they would travel on to their homeland, Ukraine.

Volunteers are bringing the group food and medicine. “In such situations, moral support is very important,” Yekaterina Golubeva, a spokesperson for Volunteers Tbilisi, told Novaya Europe.

“Today, one of the men, Arman, called me and said they are all ready to slit their wrists to draw attention to their plight. I’m really afraid that this may all end in tragedy.”

It is unclear what exactly is causing the delay with the documents. Most likely, the Ukrainian authorities are working to establish the prisoners’ identity, as most of them do not have their passports — just a slip of paper from a Russian prison with their personal information, Maria Belkina, the head of Volunteers Tbilisi, said.

“It takes a long time to process documents. Ukraine is at war. This isn’t a priority. This is a violation of their basic human rights. It’s not their fault they lost their documents,” Belkina added.

Georgian border guards have given the former prisoners an unoccupied office in an unheated basement to live in. The latest photos show a new group of former prisoners using an electric stove for heating. They do, however, have mattresses and warm blankets.

This is not the first time Ukrainian convicts have been stuck in the buffer zone between Russia and Georgia. In August, six former prisoners waited 11 days at the border. Last month, 17 prisoners lived in similar conditions for two weeks.