Kobakhidze: Foreign agents inflating attack on Russian woman in Georgia

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has accused what he called “foreign agents” of deliberately amplifying an incident involving an attack on a Russian woman in Georgia, claiming the case was being used to stoke anti-Georgian sentiment.

Speaking to Georgia’s First Channel, Kobakhidze said there was an attempt to “artificially impose hatred” on the country from abroad, alleging that certain groups were carrying out such efforts.

“There is a very simple order at work here: to artificially impose hatred on us in Georgia from outside, and specific agents are carrying out this task. We will do everything possible to counter this objective and all those people who are involved in carrying out such orders,” Kobakhidze said.

A Georgian man, Giorgi Chighladze, has been arrested and faces up to three years in prison following a physical altercation with a foreign national at a hotel in Georgia’s Kakheti region.

The incident occurred at Agarani Estate Hotel during a wedding event on July 18. A video shared on Instagram shows Chighladze entering a hotel room during a heated argument before striking a Russian-speaking woman, causing her to fall and require medical assistance.

The woman’s friends allege she was attacked because she was speaking Russian, while Chighladze’s lawyer claims the conflict was provoked by hotel guests, who allegedly disrupted the wedding and initiated the confrontation.

By Aghakazim Guliyev