Georgian Legion commander on former prosecutor general: 'He is following directives from Russian intelligence services'
According to a statement by Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander of the pro-Ukrainian Georgian Legion, former Georgian prosecutor general Otar Partskhaladze, who recently took command of a unit fighting on Russia’s side, is following directives from Russian intelligence services. Mamulashvili also said Partskhaladze’s value as a military figure was zero.
The Georgian Legion is a volunteer formation established in 2014 after Russia invaded eastern Ukraine. In 2016, the Georgian Legion officially joined Ukraine’s 25th Motorised Infantry Battalion. It is now subordinate to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Defence Ministry.
The unit includes Georgian volunteers as well as fighters of other nationalities. It currently has around 2,000 members.
In 2023, Russia’s Interior Ministry added Georgian Legion commander Mamuka Mamulashvili to its wanted list.
According to Mamulashvili, Otar Partskhaladze will try to draw ethnic Georgians living in Russia into his adventure — the war against Ukraine. However, his chances of success are doubtful, as very few Georgians fighting on Russia’s side are seen on the front line, and most of them have already been killed.
Former Georgian prosecutor general Otar Romanov-Partskhaladze, who is fighting on Russia’s side, told Russian pro-Kremlin media that members of the Georgian Legion are “war criminals” and will face prosecution under Russian law.
Earlier, on 7 September, it became known that Partskhaladze would lead the international “St George” unit, which was created to take part in the war against Ukraine.
Mamuka Mamulashvili: “Partskhaladze will get a response. He will realise that he made a serious mistake by launching a campaign against the Georgian Legion.
No unit, not even Ukrainian ones, has faced the kind of pressure the Georgian Legion has endured. We are one of the oldest units, even compared with Ukrainian volunteer formations. Russia does not like the fact that so many Georgians are fighting on Ukraine’s side. That is why Russia has been fighting us for more than 12 years, both informationally and physically.
Since they failed to destroy the Georgian Legion physically, they have now tried to create a counterweight by forming another Georgian unit that supposedly will fight on Russia’s side. In reality, this is an attempt to discredit Georgia and bring it under the same sanctions that Russia faces. To do this, they are using people with Georgian surnames who live in Russia and who make all sorts of absurd claims that the Georgian Legion should be tried under Russian law.
In 2022, Russia designated the Georgian Legion as a terrorist organisation. This is hardly surprising, as the Georgian Legion has inflicted enormous damage on the Russian Federation. We can see that their disinformation machine has become much more active. Attempts to kill us physically and attacks have also increased. I have personally been attacked seven times and have survived three attempts to poison me.
Partskhaladze is following directives from Russian intelligence services because his own value as a military figure is zero. I doubt that this man knows which end of a weapon fires. Most likely, he was ordered to finance and create another battalion. He will then try to draw people with Georgian surnames who live in Russia into this adventure. I do not know how successful he will be, because over these 12 years I have encountered very few Georgians on the front line — and those I did encounter were already dead.
The battalion will most likely consist of Russians, with a few Georgian-speaking people who will claim that the unit is mainly made up of Georgians.”
Commander of the Georgian Legion on former prosecutor general
