The Georgians Killed Fighting in Ukraine

Maradia Tsaava

Tbilisi-based journalist & documentary filmmaker

Monday, 9 January, 2023

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In late December, mourners in the small village of Partskhanakanevi in western Georgia gathered for the funeral of 45-year-old Mikheil Tevdoradze, a local man killed in the Ukraine war.

A veteran soldier who had fought in the Abkhazian conflict of the 90s and then in Russia-Georgia war in 2008, Tevdoradze joined the Ukrainian army a week after the full-scale invasion began on February 24.

“I was living in Europe when he called me,” his sister Nino, 46, told IWPR. “I begged him to change his mind, but anyway I knew he would go. Nothing would force him to stay home, since this is a war for our homeland.”

Although Tevdoradze was wounded in the summer, he soon he went back to the frontline. On December 13 a sniper shot him in the eye. His body was repatriated to Georgia on December 22 and days later, his family buried him in the village cemetery.

A total of 50 Georgians have died fighting against Russian forces in Ukraine since 2014, 38 of them since the full-scale invasion began.  Analysts say that the conflict in Ukraine has deep resonance in Georgia.

“For Georgians, the war in Ukraine is their war,” said political analyst Zura Batiashvili. “This was confirmed by a [March] ACT survey – 87 per cent of Georgians consider this war as their own, because we have the same history and traumas. Russia is occupying 20 per cent of our territory in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”

However, the position of the Georgian government towards the war has been more ambiguous. The decision announced by Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili’s decision not to join the sanctions against Russia - announced on February 25 - brought thousands of people onto the streets in protest.

Since then, Tbilisi’s relationship with Kyiv has been turbulent and the government has often been accused of pro-Russian bias by opposition parties.

“Georgian Dream looks like a proxy Russian power today,” military expert Oto Konjaria said. “We are witnessing a historical moment of geo-political establishment change, and illogically the Georgian government is busy with making propagandistic announcements and sticking to the Russian side even though it’s clear that Russia is losing this war.”

Relatives of those killed fighting in Ukraine say they feel let down by their own government. They argue that not only is Tbilisi not participating in negotiations over returning the bodies of the fallen to their homeland, but those who are repatriated are not buried in the capital’s Brother’s Cemetery along with other Georgian fighters.

Elmira Inalishvili’s husband Avto Rurua was among five Georgian fighters killed in a brutal battle in Bakhmut on December 3

“My 14-year-old child came across the photo of five of them on Facebook, that’s how we heard the news. Now it looks like we will wait for his body indefinitely,” said his widow.

Like Tevdoradze, 41-year-old Rurua first fought in the Abkhazian and then Russian-Georgian war. Originally from Abkhazia, Rurua was forced to leave as a teenager and made his home in Zugdidi, a small town in western Georgia.

“He was living in Tbilisi and working in construction, I was in Zugdidi with the kids,” Inalishvili, 34, explained. “He left in March – nothing could stop him. All his friends were there and he said they needed him there.”

Rurua was wounded and returned to Georgia to recuperate, but went back to Ukraine two months before his death.

His body and those of the Georgians killed with him - Ruslan Bairamov, Roland Kvaratskhelia, Avto, Romeo Pichkhaia and Merab Aladashvili - are still on territory under Russian control.

"The position of Georgian government is absolutely the opposite of how people feel in this country.”

“His brother is in Ukraine now with the army, trying to get the body,” Inalishvili said. “We have to do everything on our own, the government pays zero attention to us, to the soldiers in Ukraine and to this war in general.”

“We don’t have much to hope for,” Konjaria explained. “Ukrainians need to take the full control of the territory and clean it from Russians in order to get the bodies back and no one knows when this is going to happen.”

Others are also critical of the official attitude to those Georgians fighting in Ukraine.

“The government is not paying any respect to the ones who sacrifice their lives in this war and moreover, they even want to withdraw Georgian citizenship from them,” Batiashvili said

This proposal was first raised in early December by Mamuka Mdinadadze, a lawmaker with the ruling Georgian Dream party.

“If a person is in the army of a foreign country, they automatically lose the citizenship of the country they are from,” Mdinaradze said. Her fellow parliamentarian Rati Ionatamishvili also supported the suggestion.

“The government is making trouble only, there is no help from them,” said Vano Nadiradze, a vice-colonel who has served in the Ukrainian army since 2014. “These people are dying here for their homeland and no government official has attended any of the funerals of our heroes.”

Nadirdze said that between 600 and 700 Georgians were serving in the Ukrainian army last year, with around 130 in frontline positions.

“Georgian fighters are not even one per cent of the whole Ukrainian army, but wherever they fight, they leave their significant mark of courage, bravery and professionalism,” Nadiradze said. “We are an aggrieved nation and warriors fighting for our homeland. Defeating Russians here means defeating our enemy and taking back our territories.”

Konjaria agreed, adding, “Georgians are sacrificing their lives in Ukraine for Georgia. Our future depends on what will happen in this war. The victory of Ukraine is equal to getting back our occupied territories - Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”

Batiashvili said that the government was out of touch with popular feeling.

“This war is close to the scale of WWII and today it has become very clear what is black and what is white,” he continued. “In these circumstances the position of Georgian government strategically trying to distance from this war and not take any sides is just terrifying and absolutely the opposite of how people feel in this country,” Batiashvili.  

IWPR approached the Georgian government for comment but did not receive a response.