Georgia’s ruling party official accuses Ukrainian intelligence of prompting speculation with photo marking Georgia

Levan Machavariani, the First Deputy Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party faction in the legislative body, on Sunday claimed that Ukrainian special services deliberately left room for speculation by publishing a photo that marked Georgia, suggesting it was intended to fuel narratives exploited by “radicals” in Georgia.

Responding to the Georgian State Security Service’s statement refuting allegations about the presence of Russian military communication networks in Georgia, Machavariani accused Ukrainian intelligence of triggering misinformation.

“[Ukraine’s special services] left room for interpretation and speculation, considering that in the photo they published, the territory of Georgia is also marked. And of course, there is a reasonable suspicion that they did all of this so that radicals would seize on this topic”, he said.

Machavariani connected this incident to what he described as past attempts by Ukrainian authorities to interfere in Georgian political affairs.

“It is the Ukrainian special services, where Mr. Lortkipanidze - who used to be Vano Merabishvili’s deputy - still holds a very high position. It is precisely the Ukrainian special services who planned and smuggled Mikheil Saakashvili into Georgia in order to cause unrest here. It is the same Ukrainian special services who accused us of allegedly being a black hole for Russia to evade sanctions”, he noted.

The MP highlighted that international partners, including the EU, the UK, and the US, have confirmed that Georgia was effectively enforcing sanctions, and said that the Government recently received another letter of appreciation.

“Let me remind you that, thanks to our very significant efforts, coordinators on sanctions specifically arrived from the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and they rejected that accusation and confirmed that Georgia is working very effectively in this direction. And two or three weeks ago, we again received a letter of gratitude from Mr. O’Sullivan”, Machavariani concluded.

Following reports circulated yesterday across various media platforms and by several individual activists, Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) has denied allegations that, according to Ukrainian intelligence materials, networks of Russia’s Armed Forces’ special secure communication terminals exist on Georgian territory.