Around 15,000 Russian citizens are now in Georgia

TBILISI. March 30 (Interfax) - As many as 35,028 Russian citizens arrived in Georgia and 20,733 Russians left Georgia from February 24 to March 20, the Georgian Interior Ministry said.

The ministry said it has published the statistics in response to high public interest.

Georgian opposition parties earlier demanded that the country's authorities introduce visas for Russian citizens because they believe "the huge number of Russian citizens", who have arrived in Georgia since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, "pose a threat to the national interests of Georgia."

Visa-free travel to Georgia for Russian citizens was introduced in 2012, when Mikheil Saakashvili was Georgia's president.