Saturday, March 21, 2026

Georgia detains Ukrainian ex-official linked to Yanukovich

Veteran energy ministry official Igor Kiriushin (59) is accused of embezzlement of over 2 billion hryvnia. (Kievgrad.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–An ally of the exiled former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich has been detained in Tbilisi by Interpol on suspicion of corruption.

Igor Kiriushin (59), a veteran official at the Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy, was detained at Tbilisi airport on Saturday

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Activists claim police are planting drugs on government critics

TBILISI, DFWatch–The daughter of the president of Georgia claims police framed her friend because he has been involved in political work for the president. It used to be an oft-heard story during the Saakashvili presidency: regime critics who are set up by police planting drugs in their pocket. But now activists raise the alarm and say police are … Read more

Hungarian tourist killed by avalanche in Georgia

A screenshot from Imedi TV showing the tracks where the victim skied along with a group of tourists near Gudauri.

TBILISI, DFWatch–A Hungarian tourist died in an avalanche in Georgia on Friday while skiing near Gudauri, a mountain resort north of Tbilisi.

Authorities did not identity the victim beyond describing him as a man aged around 40.

The accident occurred when a group of tourists

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Two drug arrests of UNM-linked youth raise calls of politicized justice

khatia_dekanoidze
Khatia Dekanoidze as head of Ukraine’s national police.

TBILISI, DFWatch–Two young men related to government critics were arrested in Tbilisi on Tuesday on drug charges. Their mothers think it was politically motivated.

One of the detainees is the son of Khatia Dekanoidze, a justice specialist who introduced Georgian experience with police reforms to Ukraine

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Rioters will be strictly punished, Georgia's interior minister warns

Clean up work after Batumi riot
Clean up work after a riot Saturday night and Sunday morning in Batumi. (Interpressnews.)
Those responsible will be strictly punished, Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili warned.
Those responsible will be strictly punished, Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili warned. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Most who were detained in a riot in Batumi, Georgia have now been released, but the interior minister warned that they will be strictly punished.

Seven people are still incarcerated after a court placed them in preliminary administrative detention,

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