Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko denied information circulated by the Georgian security service about the alleged involvement of Ukraine in preparation of a coup d’état in Georgia.
The Georgian government is trying to demonize Ukraine in order to solve the country’s internal political issues, Nikolenko said.
“Attention was drawn to the statements of representatives of law enforcement agencies of Georgia about the alleged involvement of the Ukrainian side in the preparation of a coup in Georgia. […] The state of Ukraine has not interfered, is not interfering and has no plans to interfere in Georgia’s internal affairs,” the statement reads.
On the morning of September 18, the Georgian Security Service issued a statement saying that the country wants to repeat the Ukrainian Euromaidan scenario and forcibly change the government.
The authors of the coup plan are named as Giorgi Lortkipanidze, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, who was deputy interior minister Vano Merabishvili under Saakashvili’s government; former security guard of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, Mikhail Baturin; and Mamuka Mamulashvili, a member of Saakashvili’s inner circle. Mamuka Mamulashvili, a member of Saakashvili’s inner circle and commander of the Georgian Legion operating in Ukraine.
