While thousands of Georgian volunteers are shedding blood for Ukraine’s freedom, on the opposite side of the front line, Georgians of a vastly different stripe—donning camouflage and hiding behind icons—are selling their “loyalty” to the Kremlin.
Throughout the past week, Russian propaganda has been enthusiastically churning out stories about Georgians fighting in the “special military operation” (SVO). One of the Kremlin’s prime poster boys has been Otar Partskhaladze. Back home, he gained notoriety for serving as Prosecutor General for just 47 days before an old conviction for stealing sneakers in Germany came to light. He also distinguished himself by landing on Western sanctions lists for collaborating with the FSB (Russia’s Federal Security Service), changing his surname to Romanov, being stripped of his Georgian citizenship, and being placed on an international wanted list over a contract killing plot in Tbilisi.
As it turns out, Romanov-Partskhaladze headed to the war in Ukraine over a year ago, and recently decided to form an international volunteer unit named “Georgievsky”—an allusion to the Treaty of Georgievsk, the document that paved the way for the forced annexation of the Georgian kingdoms into the Russian Empire. “When Russia is fighting against Western pressure to preserve its identity, traditions, language, and culture, I am ready to help the Motherland achieve all the goals set by its leader,” clarified Partskhaladze, who swiftly swapped homelands and has already obtained the status of an SVO veteran.
Yet the “Georgievsky” is not the only one. Since January 2026, a so-called Orthodox unit named after Saint Gabriel Urgebadze, a figure deeply venerated in Georgia, has also been fighting on the side of the occupying forces. Information about this unit is scarce, but according to the Russian Orthodox Church, it includes ethnic Georgians.
They, along with the Nevsky Brigade, were recently visited by another Georgian native—Besik Danelia, a former member of Nino Burjanadze’s party who had long dropped off almost every radar. Nonetheless, Russian state-controlled media touted the visit of what they billed as an entire “Georgian delegation,” supposedly delivering humanitarian aid: motorcycles and “mobile prayer rooms,” seemingly to maintain an appearance of devout Orthodox piety.
Conservative rhetoric, icons, and frontline prayer services may look “spiritual” at first glance. However, the facade crumbles in the face of two fundamental truths: all of this is unfolding on the side of the aggressor state, and the Georgian participants consist of a criminal who traded his homeland and a marginal activist. Needless to say, an internationally wanted fugitive ex-prosecutor general and a long-washed-up politician posing as “all of Georgia” are merely manufacturing a convenient narrative for the occupier’s propaganda and bargaining for perks while serving in someone else’s war.
