A Russian soldier abandoned his military post in the village of Perevi at the breakaway South Ossetian administrative border to sought asylum in Georgia, according to the Georgian Ministry for Refugees and Accommodation (MRA).

In a brief comments to Georgian journalists and aired by the television stations, the Russian soldier said he deserted his unit and requested for asylum in Georgia because of “political reasons”.

The Russian Defense Ministry has yet to comment.

This is the third case of this type this year. In January a Russian servicemen, Alexandr Glukhov, deserted his unit in Akhalgori and in July another soldier, Dmitry Artemiev, deserted his post in the village of Perevi. Both of them requested for asylum in Georgia.

In June, 2009 Lieutenant Alik Bzhania, who served in the Georgian coast guard, fled Georgia to seek political asylum in Russia.