"According to the 72-year-old woman, the reason for her decision is the ever-deteriorating situation in Georgia as the opposition in the country tries to force the current president to step down, as well as the worsening crime situation, including in the Gori district, where she lives," the service said in a statement.
The woman also told border guards on the South Ossetian-Georgian border that this February several masked men had entered her house and stole some $1,500 that she had been saving for an operation.
Her request for political asylum in Russia is currently being considered by officers from the Federal Migration Service in the Russian republic of North Ossetia.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in central Tbilisi on Thursday demanding President Mikheil Saakashvili resign. The president has been criticized for his authoritarian tendencies along with his handling of the August war with Russia, which crushed Georgia's military offensive against South Ossetia.
