First refugees from Pankisi returned to Chechnya

Displaced Chechens who have found accommodation in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge have begun to return home, reported head of the Vladikavkaz border unit Colonel Boiko.

"The first five Pankisi refugees have returned to Chechnya through the Verkhny Lars checkpoint. Thus the process of the Chechen refugees' return home has been launched," Boiko emphasized.

At present, there are some 4,000 Chechen refugees in the Pankisi Gorge. Russia's Minister for Chechnya Stanislav Ilyasov conducted negotiations in Tbilisi over their return.