"The Republic is interested in the expansion of tourist services, and taking the geographical possibilities into account, cruise liner services in the summer are considered the most promising. If we receive the liner Knyaz Vladimir decently, a place will be found for the Astoria Grande", said the de facto president, Aslan Bzhania, in response to a relevant question of a journalist of the propaganda media, which was related to the action held after the liner's arrival in Batumi.  
On July 31, a Russian cruise ship arrived at Batumi port, bringing Russian tourists to Georgia.
According to the available information, atrists supporting the war and Vladimir Putin were also on the ship. Citizens met the arrival of the cruise ship with protest. The protest erupted on the night of July 30 and continued throughout the night. The situation became tense several times. 23 people were detained by the police at the rally. 
The cruise ship left Batumi port two hours earlies than scheduled amid proetsts. Astoria Grande removed Batumi from the route. Before that, it was known that the cruise ship should enter the Batumi port once every two weeks.