The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia denied the information about the mass entry of Russians through "Upper Lars".

Over the past day, just over 16,000 people crossed the "Upper Lars" checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border in both directions. The agency called the information about a record figure of 20,000 people unreliable.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", after the announcement of partial mobilization in Russia in September 2022, many Russians left for Georgia. In November, the President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili reported that more than 700,000 Russians crossed the border with the country, about 100,000 of them remained, while the others went to other countries.

Various media and social networks are spreading information that in the last 24 hours, 20,000 citizens of Russia crossed the Georgian border through the Lars customs checkpoint, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported today on its official website.

In order to inform the public, the law enforcement agency of Georgia clarifies that this information is not true and serves for the intentional dissemination of misinformation by certain interested parties.

"We would like to clarify that, according to data for the last 24 hours, 7,880 citizens of various countries crossed the Georgian state border through the Lars customs checkpoint," the statement said.

Also, during the same period, 8,406 citizens of various countries left through the same checkpoint. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia called on all interested parties to refrain from spreading unverified information, as well as from misinterpreting and distorting various data.

The day before, the Russian Federal Customs Service reported on the congestion at the "Upper Lars" checkpoint, "Kommersant" informs today, citing the agency.

According to the customs service, such dynamics have been observed for several days: on August 15 and 16, more than 19,000 people passed through the checkpoint daily. "Current figures significantly exceed data from similar periods in previous years," the FCS said in a message on August 18 in its Telegram channel.

The customs and border services, according to the agency, are taking necessary measures to allow vehicles to pass. In particular, shifts have been strengthened, and more staff have been involved. Citizens are urged to consider the road situation when planning trips to Georgia and back, as well as to comply with traffic rules.

The Military-Georgian Road is the only highway that allows passage from Russia to Georgia and Armenia.

Recall that on September 21, 2022, after Vladimir Putin announced mobilization, airline tickets for the nearest direct flights from Moscow to Baku and Yerevan sold out. By September 23, it was impossible to fly in the coming days to Armenia or Azerbaijan on a direct flight from Moscow and the airports of Sochi, Mineralnye Vody, Astrakhan, and Vladikavkaz, and prices for airline tickets at the end of September and the beginning of October ranged from 34,000 to 172,000 rubles.