The Russians ran back: what is happening at the Upper Lars checkpoint

One of the tourists, Sergei, who is returning home from a ski resort to Russia, said that they stood at the Georgian border in the morning, March 9, for about 10 minutes. And to overcome the Russian border, it took them 3 hours.

The Upper Lars border crossing is now open 24/7. The passage of cars slows down a little only during shift changes.

Drivers report that heavy trucks pass from one side to the other. There is a big plug in neutral. There are trucks from Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Armenia.

“If you are traveling from Tbilisi to Vladikavkaz in a passenger car, be prepared to stand in a traffic jam for 4-5 hours,” says Zaur, a representative of one of the major carriers. – The entire neutral zone – from the Georgian border to the Russian one – is crammed with cars. You can pass through the checkpoint on the Georgian side quite quickly, they promptly let all cars through. But at the checkpoint at the entrance to Russia, all vehicles are carefully checked. Although all lanes are now open to traffic. Just cars in gigantic numbers keep coming and coming. And this is by no means due to the fact that the road was closed for three days due to snowfall. I have spoken to many of our drivers. Those who left Russia in September are returning.

Zaur says that recently the pass and the road were also closed for 4 days. But then there was no such traffic jam.

– The people began to leave Georgia because of the riots and rallies in Tbilisi. Our drivers, who are now stuck in a traffic jam, say that there are very few cars from the 15th region (Republic of North Ossetia-Alania) that are engaged in transportation on this section. Mostly cars from other cities, almost from all over Russia, drive.

Zaur says that those who leave Georgia share that they fear for their lives and the lives of their children.

– They are all pretty scared because of the events that are taking place in Tbilisi. At the rallies organized by the opposition, the crowd shouted anti-Russian slogans along with anti-government slogans. There are quite a few among ordinary Georgians who do not particularly delve into what kind of bill on foreign agents is. They were told that this was being done at the suggestion of Russia, that this was “the hand of Moscow”. And they went to wave the flags of the EU and the USA, “for democracy”, without thinking that in the same America there is a tougher analogue of a similar law, which was adopted in 1938.

Zaur says that those Russians who are now leaving Georgia fear that events will continue to develop in a negative light, that Tbilisi will become a “hot spot”.

– Aggressive-minded young people walk the streets of Tbilisi, they are eager to join the European Union, they are opposed to Russia, against Russians. Cars with Russian numbers are like a red rag to a bull for them. In the morning, the owners often find cars with punctured wheels. The guy we are taking out of Georgia today said that he was driving along Rustaveli Avenue in the morning and saw how the janitors, after dispersing the opposition rally, were removing heaps of garbage. There were also iron bars from the fence, and metal bars broken out of the windows, and fragments from the entrance doors of the parliament building, and some boxes. Nearby were burned cars. The windows of many shops were broken. And in the evening the crowd is going to come out to the square again.

Are there tourists among those who are leaving Georgia now?

– There are a lot of tourists in Georgia now, the ski season is in full swing. Gudauri is now completely full, you will not find free places in hotels. But now just few people come back with skis. Our drivers have special ski bindings on their cars, they are not used. Skiers, until their planned vacation ends, do not leave in an emergency.

Zaur says that the closure of the Cross Pass in winter and early spring is a common occurrence.

– There are five or six dangerous areas where avalanches come down after heavy snowfall. Local services do not immediately rush to clear roads, they first call in specialists who determine the risk of new avalanches in the near future. They do not let the equipment, fearing for the people. They are waiting. When the danger of avalanches disappears, they begin to clean. The day before yesterday, for example, they started cleaning, and when the cars were already in the middle of the road, a hurricane wind arose. And the road was covered with snow again.

How often do such rushes happen?

– It also snows in May. The weather in the mountains is unpredictable. You can cross the Upper Lars, and then get stuck in the town of Stepantsminda, sit for several days waiting for good weather, when sections of the road between the village of Kobi and the resort of Gudauri are opened. Those who get stuck on the Cross Pass can take refuge in the active monastery, the monks welcome all travelers. Last year, for example, only a few times the road was closed. The year was favorable. All our drivers have chains in the trunk with them, which they put on the wheels when icing.

According to Khizir Khuseinovich Chochaev, head of the North Caucasian paramilitary service for active influence on meteorological and other geophysical processes, warning avalanches are not carried out in Georgia, as in Russia. Slopes are not shelled by cannons. Forecasters watch the weather in the mountains. They monitor the readings that come from weather stations, the state of the snow and compile an avalanche danger bulletin.

“Most likely, the limited budget does not allow Georgia to maintain such a paramilitary service as we have,” says Khizir Chochaev. – In heavy snowfall, when there is a threat of an avalanche, the traffic police simply close the roads. They wait for visibility, for the snow to stop, then they clear the road and allow cars to pass. It’s always like this with them – like heavy snowfall, queues of cars reach right up to Nalchik.

Serious reconstruction of the Georgian Military Highway in Georgia has not been carried out for almost 80 years, although avalanche galleries have been installed here.

– For several years now, a tunnel nine kilometers long and 15 meters wide has been pierced in Georgia through the Main Caucasian Range. It will pass under the Cross Pass (the highest point of the Georgian Military Highway – 2395 meters) and come out to the Russian border, just above Upper Lars. For the construction of this tunnel, a drilling machine with minimal vibrations was specially created. The tunnel is expected to be ready by the end of the year. Road transport on the most inconvenient section of the path will no longer go along the serpentine of the Cross Pass, but will move along a safe underground path – a tunnel. The Gudauri resort, accordingly, will get rid of traffic jams and transit trucks.