TBILISI, September 11 – Former Georgian prosecutor general Otar Partskhaladze is facing a wave of criticism in Georgia after declaring the creation of a volunteer military unit to fight on Russia’s side in Ukraine.
Partskhaladze, who now uses the name Otar Romanov-Partskhaladze, said the new unit is called Georgievsky, a reference to the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk between the Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and the Russian Empire. He has said he made the decision to fight on Russia’s side voluntarily.
Former Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili was among the first prominent figures to react. On Wednesday, she described Partskhaladze’s actions as betrayal and said questions about him should have been raised much earlier, including when he served as Georgia’s prosecutor general. She also recalled U.S. sanctions imposed on him and criticized the Georgian authorities’ response to those sanctions.
Among other critics, Grigol Gegelia of the opposition Lelo party said on Thursday that Partskhaladze’s case supported his party’s long-standing accusations that the Georgian government was tied to Russian interests, Interpressnews reported. Gegelia described Partskhaladze as one of the government’s former key figures and repeated allegations that he had acted as a Kremlin agent.
Valeri Chechelashvili, a former Georgian diplomat and co-founder of the First Georgia movement, suggested that Russian security services could be trying to build Partskhaladze into a future political figure.
Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander of the Georgian Legion fighting on Ukraine’s side, also attacked Partskhaladze’s new project. He alleged that the Georgievsky unit was being created on instructions from Russian security services and questioned whether Partskhaladze had any military experience. Mamulashvili also suggested the unit might struggle to recruit ethnic Georgians and could instead be composed mainly of Russians.
While the backlash at home continued, Partskhaladze made comments to Russian state news agency TASS, stating that Georgian Legion fighters should be treated as war criminals under Russian law.
Partskhaladze responded to the criticism again Friday morning, accusing Western actors of trying to stir up hatred of Russia among Georgians and argued that many people in Georgia remained sympathetic to what he described as the historical truth about Georgian-Russian relations. He also said Russia had stood by Georgia during difficult periods in its history.
Analyst Paata Zakareishvili described Georgievsky as part of a new generation of pro-Russian forces in Georgia. “It is clearly visible that ‘Georgievsky’ was not mentioned there by accident,” Zakareishvili said, adding that he believed Partskhaladze and others around the current government are “preparing their place in Georgia’s future government.”
