The Georgian Interior Ministry has confirmed that Russian bikers were denied entry into Georgia at the checkpoint Kazbegi.

"The Russian citizens were denied entry into Georgia based on Subitem 3 of Article 11 of the law On the Legal Situation of Foreigners and Stateless Persons. That article of the law states that a foreigner can be denied entry into Georgia if he does not provide information or provides false information on his identity or purpose of the visit," the Georgian Interior Ministry said.

According to the Russian media, a motorcade composed of 30 bikers who were citizens of Russia and other CIS countries were en route through Georgia to Thessaloniki, Greece, where an international bikers' congress is scheduled to be held on May 1-2. The motorcade was denied entry into Georgia.

Russian bikers have continually tried to enter Georgia before May 9 over the past few years. Some have succeeded, but incidents occurred in many cases. Local patriotic citizens stopped Russian bikers and demanded that they remove St. George's stripes from their motorbikes, threatening them with violence. The police had to intervene.