Kavelashvili: Did Russia only become an occupier when it invaded Ukraine, and was that when we remembered Antsukhelidze?

Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili said the country has emerged stronger from the tragedy of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war and that the current government would not allow such events to be repeated.

“We are a strong society. Unfortunately, we went through a very difficult experience and endured the tragedy of the August war. Today, however, Georgia is stronger. We have a government that will under no circumstances allow such days to be repeated in Georgia,” Kavelashvili told reporters on the 18th anniversary of the war.

He said the loss of hundreds of lives, villages and Georgian territories, as well as the loss of the Kodori Gorge, were among the tragic consequences of the conflict, arguing that the government at the time had failed to demonstrate sufficient responsibility toward the state.

“When Antsukhelidze was being tortured and our heroes were lying dead in the streets, they did not say a word. Did Russia only become an occupier when it invaded Ukraine? Was that when we suddenly remembered Antsukhelidze? Georgian society will not accept this,” Kavelashvili said.

The president described the August war as one of the most painful episodes in Georgia’s recent history, saying that a thorough understanding of its lessons remains crucial to the country’s current state policy.