Deutsche Welle reports sharp increase in deportations of Russian citizens from Georgia

German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported on Monday, citing data from Georgia’s Interior Ministry, that the country deported 109 Russian citizens for violating immigration regulations in the third quarter of 2026 - between July and September.

This figure is nearly one and a half times the total number of Russian nationals deported throughout 2025.

The report examines Georgia’s deportation statistics, which show that a total of 1,134 foreign nationals were expelled from the country between July and September.

Turkish citizens accounted for the largest group, with 306 deportations, while Russian nationals ranked second. By comparison, Georgia deported 1,311 undocumented migrants in 2025, including 73 Russian citizens.

During the first nine months of 2026, a total of 3,170 foreign nationals were deported from Georgia for violating immigration regulations. They included 791 Turkish citizens, 306 Indian nationals, 274 Iranian citizens and 254 Russian nationals.

The number of Russian citizens deported between January and September 2026 was more than three times the total recorded for the whole of 2025.

Georgia stepped up its efforts to combat illegal migration in 2025, when Parliament amended the relevant legislation to simplify deportation and search procedures.

Since then, the Interior Ministry has regularly published statistics on the expulsion of foreign nationals found to have violated the country’s immigration regulations.