Former Georgian prosecutor general says he served in Russia’s Arbat Battalion for nine months
Former Georgian prosecutor general Otar Romanov-Partskhaladze says that before forming his own unit to take part in the war against Ukraine, he served for nine months in Russia’s Arbat volunteer corps. Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported his statement.
In Georgia, Otar Partskhaladze has been charged in absentia with organising a murder and placed on an international wanted list.
On 7 September, it became known, that former Georgian prosecutor general Otar Partskhaladze, who now lives in Russia and is known as Otar Romanov-Partskhaladze, would lead the international “St George” unit, formed to take part in the war against Ukraine.
Partskhaladze said that after Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, he “could not stand aside” and decided to help Russian troops and civilians in Donbas and regions bordering Ukraine.
“After Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin invited me to the Victory Day parade on 9 May 2025, I made a firm decision and joined the Arbat volunteer corps, where I served for nine months. After completing my service with Arbat, my like-minded supporters and I decided to create the international volunteer ‘St George’ unit,” Partskhaladze said.
In an interview with TASS, Romanov-Partskhaladze also explained that the unit’s name refers to the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk, which he says played an important role in the history of the Georgian people. The treaty placed the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti under the protection of the Russian Empire.
According to him, the “St George” unit is recruiting volunteers who value the “shared history of Russia and Georgia” and their “centuries-old brotherhood”.
“Their main motivation is to defend the Christian faith, the traditional family, their culture and identity against the madness and pressure that the West is imposing today. For them, Russia is a bastion of normal, healthy human values, and they have made a firm decision to defend this bastion with weapons in their hands,” Romanov-Partskhaladze said.
Otar Romanov-Partskhaladze also told TASS that he was proud of the sanctions imposed on him by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom:
“I have always followed one main principle: justice, order and discipline. I faced unprecedented pressure because I stood up for the truth, took a firm patriotic position and refused to play by the West’s rules. The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom have placed me on their sanctions lists twice. But I see these sanctions as a medal for standing up for the truth.”
What is known about Arbat
The Arbat volunteer corps was established in 2022 on the initiative of Armen Sargsyan, the head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic’s boxing federation and a businessman linked to criminal circles. He is also known as “Gorlovsky”. Arbat initially fought as part of the well-known Abkhazian Pyatnashka brigade. In 2023, the unit came under Russia’s Defence Ministry.
Around 500 people serve in the battalion. Its ranks include assault troops, drone operators and electronic warfare specialists. The battalion’s representatives say former Wagner PMC mercenaries also serve in its ranks. According to Ukraine’s Security Service, the unit was largely recruited from prisoners in Russian jails.
Arbat has taken an active part in fighting in Donetsk region. In August 2024, after Ukrainian forces launched an offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, the battalion withdrew from the Ukrainian front and moved to the Kursk front.
In September 2024, Armenian authorities detained several people and said that Russia-backed members of Arbat had been planning an armed coup in Armenia.
On 3 February 2025, Arbat founder Armen Sargsyan was killed in an explosion near an upmarket residential complex in Moscow.
In February 2026, Arbat commander Hayk Gasparyan was killed in fighting. He had previously served a seven-year sentence in Russia for armed robbery and joined the battalion directly from prison.
Partskhaladze has so far published no photographs or video footage from the combat zone.
Who is Otar Partskhaladze?
Otar Partskhaladze became Georgia’s prosecutor general in November 2013, after the current ruling Georgian Dream party came to power. He held the position for just 47 days and resigned on 30 December.
His resignation followed opposition claims that Partskhaladze had been convicted in Germany in the early 2000s for stealing trainers.
After leaving the prosecutor general’s office, Partskhaladze went into business. He later obtained Russian citizenship and changed his surname to Partskhaladze-Romanov.
In September 2023, the United States imposed sanctions on Partskhaladze. According to the US State Department, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) worked with Partskhaladze to influence Georgian society and politics in favour of Russia. The State Department says Partskhaladze worked with FSB officer Alexander Onishchenko.
In October 2023, then-Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili stripped Partskhaladze of his Georgian citizenship.
In 2025, the United Kingdom also imposed sanctions on Partskhaladze for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Partskhaladze is currently facing criminal charges in Georgia. In December 2025, the Georgian Interior Ministry named him as the organiser of the murder of businessman Levan Dzhangveladze. According to the ministry, Partskhaladze led an organised criminal group and ordered the murder of Dzhangveladze.
Partskhaladze has been charged in absentia and placed on an international wanted list.
Former Georgian prosecutor general on serving in Arbat
