Russian Passports Distributed in Perevi Village?

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

The situation has improved in the village of Perevi after Ossetians left the villages in Upper Imereti. However, the Russian soldiers have stayed behind and are controlling the situation in the Georgian villages in Imereti Region that are situated along the border of South Ossetia. They say that Russians distribute Russian passports among the inhabitants of Perevi village, Imereti Region.

“Several people have taken Russian passports in Perevi. A man who is my uncle’s colleague has already accepted the offered Russian passport. He even advised his colleagues to follow his same example. My uncle said that this man has not come back to work for two weeks. This is quite unusual for him because he is not the kind of person who has the habit of not showing up for work. Assumedly, he is in South Ossetia and is working there,” explained another person living in the Sachkhere district.

There is information that there is a large scale construction project in Ossetian villages near the border area to the Perevi village. They say this construction is supervised by Russians. Consequently, the construction workers are paid by the Russians. It is claimed that they are pay rather decent wages. The locals assume that those inhabitants of Perevi village who have accepted Russian passports are working at these constructions in South Ossetia.

Zurab Tsertsvadze, the Sachkhere District Governor denies that Russian passports are being distributed in Perevi “No one from Perevians has taken Russian passports. However, the situation in this border village generally remains grave. Russians are in active control the village entrance. It is for this reason that Georgian law enforcers are unable to patrol this village. However, the Ossetians have left Perevi,” he said.

The locals deny that people have been able to return to Perevi. They insist that “nobody has returned to Perevi. When a person leaves home for security problems it is unlikely that this person will return until there safety and security guarantees have been provided. The claim that people returned to their home in Perevi is a lie. Even though Ossetians have left the village, Russian solders still remain and the situation continues to be tense. People do not feel that they are protected. We fear that the situation might deteriorate at any minute. There are no children and old people in the village at all,” say those several returnees to Perevi village.

Amid an already tensed situation, the Perevians lack food supplies and they will soon run out of provisions.