ABOUT 15,000 RUSSIAN CITIZENS WISHING TO RETURN HOME REMAIN IN GEORGIA – RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT

Interfax
Sept 1 2008
Russia

About 15,000 Russian citizens wishing to return to their homeland
remain in Georgia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"According to information provided to the Russian border guards,
up to 15,000 Russian citizens wishing to return home are in Georgian
territory on the side controlled by Georgian border units," Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said at a press briefing
in Moscow on Monday.

About 1,000 Russian citizens have returned to Russia from Georgia
through Verkhny Lars border checkpoint up to now, he said.

Russian citizens have been seeking ways to return to Russia through
Armenia, Azerbaijan and other countries, he said.

The problem of Russian citizens’ return has moved to the forefront
lately, he also said. Most of them are residents of North and South
Ossetia, who were in Georgia on private visits or were seeing their
relatives when the Georgian aggression struck, he said.

This problem is being tackled by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s
mission in Vladikavkaz in contact with the Russian embassy in Georgia,
Nesterenko said.

Lists of [Russian citizens] have been drawn up and are being
updated. Permanent contacts are being maintained with these people.

Contacts have been established with Georgian border service officials
to organize the clearance of the returning Russian citizens," the
diplomat said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress