Moscow to deport 13 Georgians as tensions heat up

The move was made against the backdrop of recent tensions between Russia and Georgia over alleged spying by Russian military officers stationed in the South Caucasus nation.

Russia has withdrawn most of its diplomats and families from the country since the arrests of its military servicemen last week, and has suspended a pullout from its Soviet-era bases in the country, placing them instead on high alert.

"We have detained 13 people in the eastern district of the city," a spokeswoman for the service's Moscow department said. "Some of them worked and some of them lived here illegally. They were all in the Russian Federation without papers. By order of the court, these people were delivered to a temporary detention center for foreigners and will subsequently be deported."

The spokeswoman said illegal immigrants are detained every day, and that in the first eight months of this year 8,711 people were deported from Moscow, including from Georgia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and other countries.

/RIA Novosti/