More than 20,000 people crossed the Russia-Georgia border in a single day. There’s a massive traffic jam on the Russian side.
More than 20,000 people crossed the Russia–Georgia border in a single day, Russia’s Federal Customs Service reported on the evening of August 18.
The agency stated it has observed “similar dynamics” for several days: more than 19,000 people passed through the Verkhny Lars checkpoint each day on August 15 and 16.
“Current figures significantly exceed those for comparable periods in previous years,” the agency added.
The Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported that eyewitnesses described a huge traffic jam on the Russian side of the border, with drivers advancing only about 100 meters (330 feet) over two hours.
A few days earlier, on August 13, Georgia and Russia had closed the land border for several hours after a river overflowed its banks.
Verkhny Lars is the only land border crossing between Russia and Georgia. It became Russia’s busiest border crossing in late September 2022, when thousands of Russians fled the country after the Kremlin announced a military mobilization. Multi-kilometer lines formed at the checkpoint at the time, with people waiting for days.
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