The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs said that manipulative and disinformation-based reports were being circulated claiming that the number of passengers entering Georgia through the Georgia-Russia land border had recently increased.

“Manipulative and disinformation-based reports are being disseminated through the mass media claiming that the number of passengers entering Georgia through the Georgia-Russia land border has recently increased. This information is untrue and is intended to mislead the public. In general, passenger flows increase during the summer due to the tourist season. The figure cited by certain media outlets includes both passengers entering Georgia and those leaving the country. It should be noted that the number of departures exceeds the number of arrivals.

“This figure is being used to manipulate the public, creating the impression that it represents the total number of Russian citizens, which is not the case. The figure includes the combined number of citizens of the Russian Federation, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan and various other countries.

The Interior Ministry, all state agencies are doing their utmost to facilitate the entry of tourists into the country while ensuring the security of Georgia’s borders. This includes ensuring that any person who may pose a threat to national security was identified in a timely manner and denied entry.

I call on the public to verify information through official sources and to rely on factual data rather than speculative and manipulative reports disseminated by certain media outlets”, - said Aleksandre Darakhvelidze.