Georgians were deceived and fallen victim to a Russian special operation

Which is led by the Georgia’s informal czar, the oligarch Ivanishvili

Brutal violence, attacks on non-governmental organizations, falsified elections, and refusal of rapprochement with the West. Our good friends Slovak journalist Mirek Toda and photojournalist Tomasz Benedikovic visited Georgia and talked to the protesters.

We publish their impressions.

Three teenagers, Nino, Kato, and Raul, 16, 14, and 16, go to the front of a large protest in central Tbilisi with a smile and a mischievous mood, despite being a little scared.

Ten days have passed since Georgians began protesting the government of the Georgian Dream billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who stopped integration with the EU after a strange parliamentary election.

Three high school students rushed through a crowd of tens of thousands on Shota Rustaveli Boulevard to group policemen guarding the entrance to parliament. The guys communicate with the security forces.

«They are very cool and cute,» says sixteen-year-old Nino in correct English, carrying a red and white Georgian flag on her shoulders.

When police violence did not help, headlines appeared—» Your parents do not mind that you are here? We’ll ask. «

More than the police, the protesters fear the aggressive individuals in black who have been violently attacking journalists and opposition leaders in recent days.

To understand what is at stake, we will have to go back ten years—to Maidan, that is, to Kyiv’s Independence Square.

When tear gas and arrests did not scare people, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s regime used «titushki». You see, friends, what popularity our Vadik Titushko has gained (ed.)

On the day when three friends Nino, Kato, and Raul had a friendly conversation with the police, the journalist Maka Chchiladze from Pirveli TV was beaten by men in black hoods.

This happened even though there were many police patrols nearby. They did not interfere and allowed the attackers to hide.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili also wrote about this on the social network X.

Former Georgian Minister for Integration with the EU and NATO, Alex Petriashvili, made it clear who was behind the violence.

Bidzina Ivanishvili hides under every mask. He is the one who beats journalists, politicians, and civilians, «says the politician, who was also arrested at one of the protests.

According to the ex-government official, the law on agents of foreign influence in Georgia was approved by the Georgian Dream government according to the Russian model. Petriashvili knows Bidzina Ivanishvili and his party very well. And today he is one of the greatest critics of the new regime.

Even though the richest Georgian, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who became rich in Russia and whom the opposition calls a Russian oligarch of Georgian origin, officially has only the post of honorary chairman of the Georgian Dream, in Georgia no one doubts that he makes all important decisions in the country.

According to Petriashvili, the appearance of «titushki» could not take place without his consent. «As well as the implementation of the law on foreign agents and, finally, the statement of the Prime Minister on the termination of negotiations on joining the EU,» the Georgian opposition politician told his Slovak colleagues, who saw Bidzina Ivanishvili’s political career gaining momentum.

After twelve years in power, he traded Georgia’s integration with the EU for rapprochement with Russia, which waged war against Georgia in 2008 and de facto annexed Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

«The introduction of titushki is very cruel and is associated with the regime of Ivanishvili, who gave the go-ahead to use all repressive tools against the freedom-loving Georgian people. Numerous attacks on the media over the past ten days demonstrate his hatred for journalists, who from Rustaveli Boulevard provide a real picture, «the Georgian opposition politician is convinced».

Ivanishvili’s media empire and politicians loyal to him claim that everything is in order and only a handful of people are on the streets, and these are mostly radicals who attack brave policemen. «And we all see how every day the main street of Tbilisi is filled with crowds, and peaceful people become victims of police repression or hired thugs», says Petriashvili.

Police intolerance speaks for itself, he said. «Never before in the history of Georgia every night on the streets stood from 30 to 50 thousand citizens. The more people they arrest and the more people they beat, the bigger the crowd will be. Protests not only in Tbilisi but also in all major cities», he said.

According to him, Ivanishvili miscalculated and made mistake after mistake: despite mass protests, he achieved the adoption of the Russian law on non-governmental organizations. He is behind these elections, in which Georgian Dream won through manipulation. And recently he canceled the pro-Western course of Georgia.

Алекс Петріашвілі

According to Petriashvili, this is happening under the leadership of the Kremlin.

The deputy from the opposition, the head of one of the opposition parties, Georgy Vashadze, also speaks about the Russian special operation.

«We are witnessing a Russian special operation against Georgia led by Russian oligarch Ivanishvili,» he said. According to him, it is no coincidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the only world leader who praised Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kochabadze as a brave politician immediately after stopping integration with the EU.

Together with three other opposition leaders, Vashadze in front of foreign journalists, called on the West to impose tough sanctions against regime officials, in particular bribed judges, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and propaganda media.

«They need to access their foreign accounts, so you should block travel to the EU, and Ivanishvili’s system will gradually begin to collapse,» he adds.

From Petriashvili’s point of view, the regime of the richest Georgian is built on two things — corruption and blackmail. The Home Secretary is his former bodyguard; the head of security ran his bank. A personal dentist manages medical care. And under his influence, about three hundred judges, «says the former Minister of Euro-Atlantic Integration.

He experienced this when he received a large fine from the judge for participating in the demonstration. However, corruption in the highest circles has found echoes in the journalistic investigation of villas worth a million dollars and offshore accounts that civil servants usually cannot have.

According to the ex-minister, if Ivanishvili is afraid of something, it is Putin. «Remember» Novichok» and Skripal. Everything about Russian law or the cancellation of access negotiations is all instructions from Moscow. I am convinced of this,» says Petriashvili.

In his opinion, only sanctions can shake the Ivanishvili regime from the inside. «I’m not saying that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow they will start working, but gradually everyone will start leaving the sinking ship.»

The chances that Russia will try to intervene are zero. «Look at Syria, where Russian troops are fleeing. Look at Abkhazia, where they rebelled against the sale of property to Russian citizens. The Russians are exhausted by the war against Ukraine, and it is estimated that they will have to send 80 thousand very well-equipped soldiers against us, «Petriashvili said.

In his words, fear of war is pure propaganda. «This does not mean that one brigade will block the highway to Tbilisi and Georgia will surrender.»

He is convinced that Ivanishvili miscalculated when he did not see the youth protesting on the streets. «This is no longer a Soviet mentality, as in Moscow and Minsk, where people are beaten, imprisoned, and disappear. No, each step of his government only increases the effect of a rolling snowball», he says.

«I believe there will be a breakthrough before Christmas.» The fact that the Advent season has already begun was recently recalled by a new tree that the mayor installed in front of parliament amid mass protests.

The deputy editor-in-chief of Newssky (Central Europe and Canada) and head of the V5 Media project Marina Kovalchuk contributed and added