More than 113,000 people crossed the Russian-Georgian border via the Verkhny Lars checkpoint over the past week, Prime news agency reports, citing the press service of the head of North Ossetia.
“Irbek Tomayev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, reported that… over the past week, more than 33,000 vehicles and over 113,000 people crossed the state border through the Verkhny Lars international vehicle checkpoint,” the statement reads.
As a reminder, on August 19, the Federal Customs Service of Russia reported a “record passenger traffic” at the Verkhny Lars border crossing: more than 20,000 passengers crossed the checkpoint in a single day.
Shortly thereafter, Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement calling reports of 20,000 Russians entering the country within 24 hours “disinformation.” According to the ministry, 7,880 people entered the country during that day, while 8,406 left.
Media outlets attribute the growing number of Russian citizens leaving the country to rumors of a potential new wave of mobilization this autumn.
