Ukraine Patriarch honours Georgian fighters
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The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has honoured and praised a group of Georgian soldiers who fought alongside Ukraine as it battled Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Patriarch Filaret awarded honourable orders to 29 Georgian fighters and the wife of Aleksandre Grigolashvili who was killed in Ukraine last month, for loving Ukraine and fighting for its independence.
The Patriarch thanked the Georgian soldiers and said Georgians had already experienced Russia’s aggression that was now being used against Ukraine.
"You have suitably defended your homeland and are now helping us,” Patriarch Filaret said to the Georgian fighters.
He added Ukraine would never forget their heroism.
A number of Georgian fighters volunteered to join the Ukrainian soldiers and fight alongside them against pro-Russian rebels since the separatist regime caused unrest in eastern Ukraine last year.
Since this time at least six Georgian citizens have been killed during the conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine.
The body of Georgian Aleksandre Grigolashvili, who has been killed in Ukraine while fighting against pro-Russian rebels, is already at his home in Kutaisi.
Georgian Aleksandre Grigolashvili, 32, who was killed in Ukraine while fighting against pro-Russian rebels, will be transported to Georgia and buried in his hometown Kutaisi on Sunday. All expenses will be covered by the Georgian Government.
One Georgian fighter has been killed and three others have been wounded following shelling between the Ukrainian Army and pro-Russian separatists near Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, say Georgian soldiers who voluntarily fight alongside the Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainians have gathered in Kiev’s central Independence Square to mourn the fallen Georgian fighter who died while defending Ukrainian land from Russian-backed rebels near Donetsk last week.
The Georgian Consulate in Ukraine is investigating reports that two Georgians were among those captured by pro-Russian separatists and exploited in a parade in Ukraine’s troubled Donesk region on Sunday.