Translated material
"It's a very scary feeling"
People who crossed the border with Georgia through the Upper Lars crossing. Photo EPA / ZURAB KURTSIKIDZE / SCANPIX / LETA"It's a very scary feeling"
On the road to the border crossing with Georgia there are queues for several days, a shortage of essentials and shootings
Since September 21, when Vladimir Putin announced mobilization, Russians have been trying to travel abroad wherever possible. On the border with Georgia, you have to stand in line for several days at the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint. A Russian armored personnel carrier arrived at the border, and the men began to be issued summonses.
Thousands of cars
Deputy Prime Minister of North Ossetia Irbek Tomaev reported on September 26 that there was a traffic jam of approximately 3.5 thousand cars in the queue at the border with Georgia. According to him, over the past week, 37.5 thousand vehicles and 115.2 thousand people crossed the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint in both directions, which is 23.3% more than last week. Georgian Foreign Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said that since the beginning of mobilization, 10 thousand Russians have entered Georgia from Russia, and the flow has approximately doubled.
On September 27, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Ossetia announced that the number of trucks and cars waiting to pass across the border with Georgia in North Ossetia had increased to 5.5 thousand.
Three days in traffic
On September 23, reports appeared that cars (except those with Region 15 license plates) were not being allowed out of Vladikavkaz towards the border.
On September 26, traffic jams in front of the checkpoint on the border with Georgia reached 20 kilometers; drivers had to stand in front of the border for 40-50 hours. Vladimir (name changed) told Important Stories that he was stuck in traffic for three days. “Taxi drivers and gangs block oncoming traffic, they give rides to people for money. Because of this, the whole problem is that they block the roads and create an even bigger traffic jam,” he added.
According to Vladimir, local taxi drivers with the 15th number in the region promised help to those stuck in traffic jams. “In fact, they all cooperated with some FSB officers and bandits. We reached the very end of the traffic jam and saw that they [the taxi drivers] had simply blocked [the oncoming lane] and were not letting anyone in except the taxi drivers. They go around and offer people 50,000 rubles to get to the Russian part of the border,” he says.
According to Vladimir, the military is also making the situation even more tense. He and his friends went on bicycles to buy gasoline at a gas station so that they could fill up their car in line. A checkpoint appeared near the gas station, which was not there before. They were stopped by people in military uniform with machine guns and a man in civilian clothes to check their documents. “They checked our documents, rewrote them, told us somewhere on the radio and let us go,” said Vladimir. When we got to the gas station, we saw two new checkpoints there.
Near a roadside cafe, where people from all over the traffic jam were going to eat, someone climbed into the mountains and started shooting from there with a machine gun. “It’s a very scary feeling that there’s a war going on, and you’re ready to pay any money, because they’re shooting right next to you. It’s just intimidating,” says Vladimir. On the mountain he saw a UAZ that looked like a military one. As a result, Vladimir managed to get to Georgia.
You can also cross the border by bicycle. Prices for them began to reach 50-70 thousand rubles.
On September 26, it became known that due to a large traffic jam, the checkpoint can be crossed on foot , although this is prohibited by law. Because of the new decision, a huge line of people wishing to cross the border on foot formed on the Russian side of the checkpoint.
“At least help with water”
Some people in line are running low on gas and food. In a telegram chat where people traveling to Verkhniy Lars communicate, offers appeared with gasoline delivery to the car for about 2,000 rubles.
“Guys, my mom has been standing in the neutral zone since yesterday. She has run out of water and wants to eat. At least help with water, if anyone has a few sips to spare,” the girl writes in the chat. This is not the first time that people have complained about the lack of water, food and other essentials.
“My boyfriend and his father have been stuck in traffic since Friday. Water and food have long since run out. And the fuel is running out. There is no connection either,” writes another chat participant.
Some are so desperate to get to the store for water that they ask where the nearest spring is. “There is water in the neutral zone. There is a stream flowing down not far from the border of the Russian Federation, it is clean and you can drink and collect water. You just need to send the men, because you have to climb 20 meters up there,” the girl writes in the chat.
There were reports that there were children in traffic jams who did not have enough diapers, and they began to be sold. “There are many hungry children in line; some are running out of diapers and wipes. Baby food, I’ll give it to anyone who needs it, we’re standing 6 km from the checkpoint,” writes another chat participant. “I sell sanitary pads and diapers, inexpensively,” writes a man named Arthur. There are also offers for paid delivery of necessary items, for example, medicines, baby food, power banks, and phone chargers. Delivery costs 2000 rubles, orders over 20 thousand rubles will be delivered free of charge.
Some responded to people's requests for free. Volunteers began distributing food, water and other necessary items. “The guys from Ingushetia deliver food completely free of charge. Thank you very much!!!!,” the chat participant thanks and attaches a photo.
“Yes, volunteers came today and handed out free pilaf, bread, donuts, pickles, and bottled water,” Victoria notes in the chat.
There are reports of fights. “Fights are already breaking out with local taxi drivers. There are no representatives of the law! Complete chaos!!! Save, call the FSB, the Prosecutor's Office, customs, wherever possible! We're all in big trouble here!" — writes a chat participant.
APCs and agendas
On Monday, photographs and videos appeared in chats for those crossing the border of Russian military personnel driving up in armored personnel carriers in the area of the border checkpoint. This was later confirmed by RBC with reference to the FSB Border Department for North Ossetia.
“The armored personnel carrier is moving there, but it is not moving to set up a checkpoint, it is, roughly speaking, a reserve for any unforeseen case if the reservists want to break through the checkpoint and leave the country without completing any border formalities. Only for this purpose,” the department told RBC.
Soon, the North Ossetian authorities reported that on the border with Georgia they began to serve summonses to those liable for military service trying to leave Russia, and on September 27, a mobilization point was set up at the border crossing.