Ministry of Defence of Georgia may have transferred data on Georgian volunteers in Ukraine to Russian Federation

EUROPEAN PRAVDA – TUESDAY, 9 AUGUST, 17:53

The Georgian opposition TV channel Mtavari released an investigation on Monday night in which it claims that the Ministry of Defence of Georgia may have provided Russia with information about former [Georgian - ed.] soldiers fighting in Ukraine against the Russian occupiers.

This is reported by European Pravda. 

In the Mtavari story, it is claimed that the personal files of the Georgian military appeared to be at the so-called "People's Prosecutor's Office of the LPR" [self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic], which have published their photos allegedly from the former training base of the Ukrainian military near Lysychansk.

In particular, we are talking about the Georgian officer Mikheil Kamkhadze, who has been serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2017. The occupiers published documents with full information about him and his family members, including their addresses and places of work.

Kamkhadze claims that he has never been to Lysychansk, and the folder with his personal file could have been sold by someone from the archival department of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia to the Russian special services.

Nadym Khmaladze is another Georgian, whose personal file is at the disposal of the occupiers. He says that it [personal information - ed.], along with information about his family, was published on one of the pro-Russian Telegram channels back in March, but he does not know where from.

After the Mtavari investigation was released, the Georgian opposition immediately criticised the government, accusing it of "treason and collaborationism", and also declared Russian influence in the Ministry of Defence of Georgia.

So far, neither the Ministry nor representatives of the Georgian authorities have commented on the accusations.

The Ministry of Defence of Georgia on Tuesday denied the data of the Georgian TV channel Mtavari. The ministry calls the channel's story "an absurd and purposefully disseminated misinformation" that "aims to mislead the public, discredit government structures and embody narrow-party interests."

The Ministry of Defence of Georgia claims that the personal file of the former Georgian military serviceman Mikheil Kamkhadze, who appears in the Mtavari story, was transferred to the relevant district commissariat. The Ministry also complained that the TV channel did not wait for a response to the official request. 

It is not known exactly how many volunteers from Georgia are fighting in Ukraine against Russia, but their number is estimated to be hundreds. In particular, they fight in the Georgian Legion, the Azov Regiment, the International Legion, etc.

In March Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, called on his Georgian colleague Irakli Garibashvili to allow the departure of volunteers from Georgia to Ukraine.

In June, Garibashvili got into a scandal when he called the Georgian volunteers who had gone to Ukraine to fight against Russia - "hired volunteers" and said that Kyiv allegedly demanded to let them out.

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