Major Mudslide Forces Consideration of Alternative Transportation Routes Across Great Caucasus Ridge (Valery Dzutsati, The Jamestown Foundation)

On June 23, the Terek River flooded and destroyed part of the Georgian Military Highway (Voyenno-Gruzinskaya doroga). The highway, which connects Russia to Georgia and Armenia, was closed. The flood caused mudslides and destroyed an estimated 500–600 meters of the highway, blocking the narrow road in the mountains on the Georgian side of the border. On July 5, the Georgian authorities finally opened a temporary route for all-wheel-drive passenger cars. A large group of Armenians stranded on the blocked highway sheltered in a temporary tent camp until a plane from the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations evacuated them to Yerevan (Newsarmenia.am, July 4).

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