Russian activist: 'Georgia's security service tried to force me to spy on protesters'
Russian activist Dubovsky in Georgia
Russian citizen and political activist Vladimir Dubovsky claims he was the target of recruitment attempts by Georgia‘s State Security Service in 2025 while being held in Gldani prison in Tbilisi following his arrest for taking part in pro-European protests that have been going on since autumn 2024.
Dubovsky said he was offered assistance in settling in Georgia in exchange for providing information about Georgian activists involved in the protests.
Georgia’s Penitentiary Service has denied the allegations.
Dubovsky remained in Tbilisi after a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights prevented his deportation to Russia. His account was published in an interview with Radio Free Europe’s Georgian service.
Allegations of surveillance and recruitment
According to Dubovsky, a few days after his arrest he was taken to an office under the pretext of meeting a psychologist. There, he says, he was met by two men who identified themselves as officers of Georgia’s State Security Service.
Dubovsky claims they offered to help him remain in Georgia in exchange for information about Georgian activists involved in the protests. He says he was shown names, surnames and photographs of various individuals taken at demonstrations.
According to his account, he was asked to build relationships with those individuals, discuss political issues with them and pass on information. Dubovsky said he believed the purpose of such contacts may have been to facilitate further surveillance or wiretapping.
“If you do not want to return to Russia, we will help you. Stay in Georgia and help us,” Dubovsky quoted the men as saying.
He said the offer included assistance with a renewed asylum application and a positive decision on that application, accommodation, the possibility of continuing to live in Georgia, obtaining permanent residency and eventually acquiring citizenship.
Dubovsky says he refused to cooperate and was subsequently threatened with deportation to Russia. At the time, Russian authorities had placed both him and his current wife, Alina Savelyeva, on a wanted list.
“Of course I was afraid of being deported to Russia, but I said I would rather return to Russia than sacrifice those people,” Dubovsky said, referring to the Georgian protest participants.
Couple wanted by Kremlin
The 34-year-old Vladimir Dubovsky was born in Irkutsk to a family of ethnic Ukrainians. In 2024, Russian authorities added him to their register of “terrorists and extremists”. According to publicly available information, the designation was linked to his support for the Ukrainian armed forces.
A criminal case has also been opened against his wife, Alina Savelyeva, on charges of “spreading false information about the Russian armed forces”.
Dubovsky and Savelyeva first arrived in Georgia in 2021. In 2022, they were arrested on charges of illegally crossing the Georgian border — an accusation they did not deny, although they said it resulted from unforeseen circumstances.
Three years later, in 2025, after their asylum application in Georgia was finally rejected, the couple were arrested again as they were preparing to leave the country.
Dubovsky spent two months in pre-trial detention at Gldani prison, while Savelyeva was held in Rustavi prison.
