PM Kobakhidze accuses 'deep state', its ‘domestic allies’ of directing 2008 war, current anti-Russian campaign

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has accused the "deep state" of directing former president Mikheil Saakashvili and the United National Movement during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war and of now seeking to destabilise Georgia through an anti-Russian campaign.

Speaking at a government administration briefing on Wednesday, Kobakhidze said Saakashvili's actions before and during the war had been carried out on the "direct instructions" of the "deep state", which he described as a force seeking to provoke conflicts between countries and radicalise societies.

Kobakhidze said the 2008 war had resulted in Russia occupying 20% of Georgia's territory, recognising Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) as independent states, the deaths of Georgian soldiers, police officers and civilians, and the displacement of around 30,000 people.

He also accused the "deep state" of seeking to involve Georgia in Russia's war against Ukraine after 2022, including by pushing for a "second front" in Georgia and demanding that Tbilisi join sanctions against Moscow.

The prime minister said Georgia's refusal to follow those demands and its pursuit of what he described as a sovereign policy had made the country a target of pressure from Western governments and European officials.

Kobakhidze further described recent allegations against Georgian soldiers over their conduct during conflicts in Abkhazia in 1990s as well as alleged anti-Russian campaigns and false information about Russian tourists in Georgia, as part of a coordinated campaign directed against the country.

He said the "deep state" was coordinating the alleged campaign through what he called its local agents.