Ruling party MP: we’re proud of Georgians fighting in Ukraine, but not of everyone

Irakli Zarkua, an MP of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the country’s authorities were “proud” of the volunteers who are now fighting in Ukraine against Russia, but “not of any of them”. 

 

“We can not be proud of those who go to Ukraine to score political points”, Zarkua said and slammed the United National Movement opposition party – in power between 2003 and 2012 – for its attempts to “drag Georgia” into the conflict. 

 

In his comments last week, prime minister Irakli Garibashvili said several volunteers, “like Mamuka Mamulashvili [the head of the Georgian legion in Ukraine]”, were affiliated with the “radical Georgian opposition”. 

 

A moment of silence was observed on Tuesday at the Georgian Parliament in memory of Georgian volunteers killed in Ukraine. 

 

Thirty-three Georgian nationals have been killed in the conflict since March.