Seven arrested in Georgia, Ukraine for murder attempt of Peikrishvili thieves-in-law

Seven people in Georgia and Ukraine have been arrested as a result of a joint special operation of the law enforcement officials of the two countries; the police arrested six people in Batumi and one person Kharkiv. 

Three of them, including the Kharkiv resident, were planning the murder of two criminal authorities living in Tbilisi: the Peikrishvili brothers, known as the Avlabari Twins.  

The remaining four were detained for the illegal acquisition and storage of TNT, an explosive.  

Among those arrested are security officers of the former leader of Adjara, Aslan Abashidze. A case has been opened against all the detainees on charges of preparing a contract murder. 

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According to the lawyer of the Peikrishvili brothers, the attackers had prepared various options for assassinating the pair, and considered various locations for placing a bomb. 

The individual arrested in Kharkiv was to place the device, for which he received around $20,000. 

Law enforcement agencies have not yet reported anything about who ordered the murder, but during the explanations of the prosecutor Giorgi Kavsadze who is overseeing the case, the name of influential criminal authority Vakhtang (Vato) Kipiani was mentioned. 

According to the prosecutor, at this point, Georgian and Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are jointly trying to establish the motives for the crime.

Both Kipiani and the Peikrishvili brothers have been involved in a number of high-profile crimes.  According to some reports, they are members of competing criminal clans. Kipiani, released from prison after the 2008 war, left Georgia and lives abroad.