The Ukrainians held at the checkpoint have been evacuated to the territory of Georgia.

17 citizens of Ukraine, who have been in the basement of the border checkpoint "Verkhny Lars - Daryali" for more than a year, have been evacuated to the territory of Georgia due to the threat of a natural disaster.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the Georgian authorities denied providing international protection to the citizens of Ukraine, who have been living in the basement of the border checkpoint "Verkhny Lars - Daryali" for almost a year. The Migration Service justified the refusal with a conclusion from the counterintelligence of the State Security Service, noting that they pose a threat to the country's security. They could be deported from Georgia at any moment.

On the afternoon of August 13, the Ukrainians held at the Georgian checkpoint were informed that they needed to pack their belongings. According to the checkpoint staff, the evacuation is related to worsening weather conditions, reported the initiative group of human rights defenders, researchers, and lawyers Apus in their Telegram channel.

The lawyer working on the case together with APUS, Darya Samodurova, received information from the checkpoint staff, who confirmed that after the evacuation, the Ukrainians are not planned to be transferred to another location but will be returned back to the checkpoint.

All 17 people were loaded into a truck and taken a few hundred meters from the checkpoint.

The lawyer believes that in this way, the citizens of Ukraine have found themselves on the territory of Georgia for the first time in a long time, while it remains unknown what will happen to them next.

"An evacuation has been announced at Daryali. My clients, 17 citizens of Ukraine, have been evacuated from the damp basement. According to the police, they will be returned to the damp basement as soon as the alarm is lifted," wrote lawyer Darya Samodurova on her Facebook page.

The lawyer also published a short video filmed by one of the detained Ukrainians from the truck. "Here, we have been evacuated. We are already on the territory of Georgia, on the territory of the monastery. We are being held in the truck, 17 people," says the video author.

The checkpoint "Verkhny Lars - Daryali" was closed on August 13 after sensors of the automatic early warning system for natural disasters were triggered in the gorge of the Devdoraki River, reported the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

The agency's message states that according to the safety protocol, all personnel working there, including patrol and border police officers, customs officers, and private company employees, were evacuated from the checkpoint. Traffic in both directions near the village of Gveleti was also blocked, and the ban applied to all types of transport.

Information about the treatment of Ukrainian citizens being deported from the Russian Federation at the border with Georgia was known as early as 2025. In early August, five citizens of Ukraine declared a hunger strike at the Georgian checkpoint, demanding access to the Ukrainian consul, the opportunity to leave Georgia, or to file an application for international protection. After meeting with the Ukrainian consul, they ended their hunger strike. At the end of August, it became known that more than 60 Ukrainians were able to return home after a forced long stay at the checkpoint.

In August 2025, Tbilisi accused Kyiv of delaying the return of Ukrainians to their homeland. Georgia is ready to pay for the transportation of 87 Ukrainians who are at the "Daryali" checkpoint, but Ukraine is delaying the process, stated the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called on Russia to deliver former convicts directly to the border of the two countries.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in December 2023, a group of Ukrainian citizens, mostly former prisoners, waited a long time for permission to enter Georgia from Russia. Some of them spent about a month at the checkpoint. According to them, they received help only from volunteers.

In October 2023, seven citizens of Ukraine were forced to spend more than two weeks in the buffer zone at the Russian-Georgian border. They had previously served their sentences in Kherson colonies, and after their release, they were taken to a deportation center in Volgograd and issued entry bans to Russia. While the Georgian authorities refused to let them into the country, volunteers provided the Ukrainians with food and essential items.

At the end of November of the same year, it became known that the Georgian authorities again refused to let former Ukrainian prisoners into the country. Volunteers managed to obtain passes for eight Ukrainians, but another eight people, who by that time had already spent more than two weeks at the checkpoint, remained waiting at the border.