Category: News - Page 73

Former high-ranking 'Mkhedrioni' paramilitary shot in Tbilisi

February 7, 2018 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–A woman who served in a banned paramilitary force in the 1990s and her son was shot in Tbilisi Wednesday morning. Dodo Gugeshashvili (59), a former high-ranking member of the Mkhedrioni paramilitary group, sustained a wound to her chest and was hospitalized. Her son, 32 year old Nodar Gusgeshashvili, was also shot in the attack … Read more

Rare Georgian language memorial discovered in Abkhazia

February 2, 2018 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–A World War II memorial in Abkhazia has been found to bear an inscription in the Georgian language; a rarity after a recent wave of cultural cleansing.

DFWatch’s reporter unexpectedly stumbled upon the memorial stone in Merkheuli,

Abkhazia demands Georgians renounce citizenship before issuing passport

January 24, 2018 by DFWatch staff

GALI, DFWatch–The breakaway region Abkhazia demands an official document issued by the Georgian Ministry of Justice proving that someone has renounced their Georgian citizenship in order to grant them an Abkhazian passport, Gali residents told DFWatch.

Georgian opera singer to perform in breakaway Abkhazia

January 22, 2018 by DFWatch staff

Photo: Giorgi Todua (left) and Alexander Tikhomirov at Gali Culture House.

GALI, DFWatch–Georgian opera singer Giorgi Todua will hold a concert in the breakaway region Abkhazia on Wednesday, for the first time after the bloody war in 1991-92, which killed tens and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Local strongman assassinated in South Ossetia

January 17, 2018 by DFWatch staff

Marek Dudaev in court in Tbilisi, 2005. (Imedinews.ge)

TBILISI, DFWatch–A former militiaman was assassinated in South Ossetia on Tuesday. Breakaway authorities claim the suspect fled to Georgian-controlled territory.

Marek Dudayev was shot three times in Artsevi, his native village near the breakaway capital Tskhinvali, local media reports. His body was found in a building

Groups demand investigation into how anti-terror forces killed 19-year-old

January 12, 2018 by DFWatch staff

Groups rallied outside the government building. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The death of a young Chechen man who was shot in an anti-terror operation last month has sparked an outcry among locals in the Muslim-inhabited region he came from, while activists in Tbilisi rallied outside the government building.

Georgian volunteers in Ukraine war quit military unit after 'provocations'

January 10, 2018 by DFWatch staff

Georgian Legion’s commander Mamuka Mamulashvili. (Facebook.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian volunteers who have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014 accuse their commander of betrayal and have abandoned the brigade they belonged to in the Ukrainian military.

All but three of the around 40 Georgian volunteers

Former President Saakashvili convicted of 'abuse of power' by Tbilisi court

January 5, 2018 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–A court in Georgia on Friday found the country’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili guilty of abuse of power and sentenced him to three years in jail.

The sentence, which was passed in absentia, was initially four years, but the term was curtailed due to an amnesty law.

Ukraine detains ship carrying cigarettes from Abkhazia

January 5, 2018 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–On December 31, Ukrainian border guards fired warning shots at a ship off the coast of Odessa and took it into custody.

The ship, which was flying a Tanzanian flag, was found to be carrying counterfeit cigarettes from Abkhazia, destined for Bulgaria.

Obstacles hold South Ossetia residents back from seeking medical treatment in Georgia proper

December 29, 2017 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia blames a drop in the number medical visits from South Ossetia on obstacles imposed by Tskhinvali justified by claim Ossetians are being ‘humiliated’.

In 2017, there was a sharp drop in the number of people traveling from South Ossetia to Georgia proper to get medical treatment.