Georgia allows former Navalny volunteer Kulanin to leave for third country instead of deporting him to Russia

The Tbilisi City Court has ruled that Russian citizen Denis Kulanin can leave Georgia for a third country instead of being deported to Russia, Paper Kartuli reported. Kulanin has been given seven days to leave the country voluntarily.

Kulanin was sentenced to two years in a Georgian prison in 2025 and was pardoned on August 27, 2026. Supporters bought him a ticket to Yerevan, but he was unable to leave Georgia because authorities had not yet made a formal decision on his deportation at the time.

Fears over deportation to Russia

Human rights activists had expressed concern that Kulanin could be deported to Russia, where he might face prosecution. According to the human rights project APUS, Kulanin had volunteered at Alexey Navalny's campaign headquarters in Rostov-on-Don and had opposed Russia's war against Ukraine. While awaiting a decision on his deportation, he was held at a migration detention facility and said authorities were trying to send him back to Russia.

On September 1, a protest took place outside Georgia's Migration Department in Tbilisi, with participants demanding that Kulanin be allowed to leave voluntarily for a third country.

Ultimately, Georgia's Migration Department asked the court to deport Kulanin "to his country of origin" — meaning Russia — but to grant him seven days to leave voluntarily, including to a third country. APUS suggested the wording of the petition may have been influenced in part by public pressure.