Several dozen people gathered today in Georgia near a border crossing with Russia to protest against the arrival of many Russians fleeing to this Caucasian country to avoid the announced mobilization, BTA reported.

All about the topic:

Russian invasion of Ukraine 7239

"Putin is a terrorist", "Russia kills", could be read on some placards carried by the protesters near the Kazbegi border crossing.

They also waved Ukrainian and Georgian flags.

The number of arrivals at this border post has seen a sharp increase since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last week a "partial" mobilization to support the invasion of Ukraine.

According to Georgian authorities, the number of arrivals from Russia has almost doubled in recent days, reaching around 10,000 a day.

Russia stops issuing passports to mobilized citizens

The flow of refugees, the first wave of which was registered since the beginning of the invasion in late February, is causing tension in Georgian society, which has not forgotten the war with Russia in 2008.

Today's protest, during which the Ukrainian national anthem was played, was organized by the pro-Western opposition political party "Droa".

"This uncontrolled and unprecedented arrival of Russians creates problems for the security of Georgia," said Tamar Gvinianidze, who is among the organizers of the protest.

"The border must be closed immediately because the government has shown that it is unable to deal with this migration crisis," she added, announcing that another protest would be held in the coming days.

However, the number of land arrivals in Georgia may decrease as early as today.

Across the border, authorities in the Russian region of North Ossetia announced restrictions on the entry of vehicles from other regions of Russia, a measure aimed at stemming the flow of travelers to the neighboring country.

After the mobilization was announced last week, tens of thousands of Russians left for neighboring countries.

Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Armenia and Finland also recorded significant increases in arrivals from Russia.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Georgia

Russians