State Security Service: Russian troops tried to use Georgian occupied territories for clandestine, illegal operations
The Georgian State Security Service says that the intelligence agencies of foreign states are trying to change public view in Georgia regarding the country’s foreign course.Photo: State Security Service press office.
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The Georgian State Security Service writes in its 2018 report that Russian forces tried to use the two occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to conduct clandestine, illegal operations.
The operations and activities were of a destructive nature, aimed at staging provocations and stirring conflicts,” SSS wrote in the report it presented to parliament.
The agency said that the intelligence services of foreign countries were also trying to change the public view in Georgia regarding the country’s foreign course.
With the use of political and public groups, [foreign forces] tried to decrease trust between the government, civil sector and political actors in Georgia. This aimed to generate a negative attitude amongst the public concerning the country’s Euro-Atlantic course,” reads the report.
The report says that the occupation and deployment of Russian troops on Georgian territory remain a major threat to Georgia.
The increased militarisation of the Georgian occupied territories, discrimination against the ethnic Georgian population, the restriction of free movement for locals and the informal annexation process in the Georgian regions by Russia are the key challenges for the Georgian state,” the report says.
The agency registered 100 illegal detentions at the occupation line between Georgia and Tskhinvali in 2018 and 28 such cases at the occupation line with Abkhazia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
The agency says that the “tendency was clearly revealed” in 2018 that the occupying forces use the situation in the occupied territories, as well as illegal detentions of Georgians, to influence the public view in Georgia.
The agency states that 45 per cent of the budget of occupied Abkhazia is money received from Russia [64 million USD], while the figure for Tskhinvali is 86 per cent [113 million USD].
The activities of Russian troops and special services in the Georgian occupied regions create security threats to not only Georgia and the region, but also for safety of Europe,” the report reads.
The agency says that due to its activities in 2018, the influence of the Islamic State terrorist group on Georgia has decreased.
The agency revealed up to 1,200 individuals last year who tried to gain residency permits with the use of fake documents.
SSS did not let 139 individuals enter Georgia in 2018 based on operative information.
SSS said that two cases are being investigated for the illegal possession of radioactive substances.
The agency claims that in terms of chemical, biologic, radiation and nuclear security Georgia has become the regional leader.
The Georgian State Security Service and the European Union Monitoring Mission to Georgia (EUMM) have dismissed reports by a Facebook user that occupying forces have entered the Tbilisi-administered territory of the Khurvaleti village at the occupation line between Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region and the rest of Georgia and are now standing in the yards of locals.
The occupying forces in the two Russia-controlled Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) have detained 327 Georgian citizens for “illegally crossing the border” between 2017 and 2019, the Georgian State Security Service says. The agency reports that 242 of 327 were detained for “illegally crossing the border” between Georgia and its eastern occupied Tskhinvali region.
The Georgian government has adopted a National Counterterrorism Strategy. The strategy was developed by a permanent Interagency Commission comprised of different state authorities and chaired by the State Security Service.
The head of Georgia’s State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri stated in parliament today that the threat of terrorism remains low in Georgia.
Gomelauri told lawmakers that in 2017 the State Security Service managed to prevent terrorist acts, referring to two recent large-scale anti-terrorism raids in Georgia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with de facto Foreign Minister Daur Kove of Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia to discuss security issues in the South Caucasus, the Russian Foreign Ministry reports.
Georgian citizen Gela Rostobaia was detained by occupying forces for “illegally crossing” the so-called border in the village of Shamgona, near Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia. Rostobaia, 39, was detained while fishing in the Enguri River yesterday, his father said.
President of the National Karate Federation of Georgia Kakha B. has been accused of fraud by the State Security Service of Georgia.
Occupying forces have illegally detained two Georgian citizens living in the village of Nikozi, near the occupation live with Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region. Georgian media report that Gabriel Melanashvili and Tamaz Mchedlidze, who were illegally detained late yesterday for crossing the so-called border, have been transported to Tskhinvali prison.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze will hold the first meeting of the new National Security Council tomorrow. The Council is an eight-member advisory body, responsible for national security policy planning and coordination.
Georgian Reconciliation Minister Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has presented a report on peace initiative ‘Step to Better Future’ of the Georgian government when meeting with delegates of the Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (CIVCOM) and the EU monitoring mission June 26 in Tbilisi. The presented report aimed to show the Georgian government’s position regarding the conflict resolution in Russia-occupied regions of Georgia.
The de facto security agency of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region says that “a large amount of weapons, ammunition and explosives” have been seized from illegal arms traffickers in the first half of the year.
Kakhaber Kemoklidze, the former Head of the Analytical Department of the Georgian Interior Ministry, has been appointed the chief of staff of the country’s new National Security Council. The staff of the Security Council will form an analytical centre, which operates under the Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and Secretary General Giorgi Gakharia.
The Georgian State Security Service reported today that the Russian occupation forces have carried out “an illegal flight along the occupation line in the direction of the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
The Georgian State Security Service has denied illegal “borderisation” in the village of Kobi in Khashuri Municipality near occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region. However, it said, Russian occupation forces continue provocative activities along the villages of Chorchana and Tsagveli.
Russian-controlled occupation forces have abducted 96-year-old Gora Garibashvili while he was trying to reach a cemetery near the village of Tsunevi, close to the occupation line with breakaway Tskhinvali region, the Georgian Public Broadcaster reports. The man has been illegally detained for “crossing the border” by de facto Tskhinvali authorities several times over the past several years, with the previous illegal detention taking place last year.
96-year-old Gora Garibashvili, who was abducted by occupation forces several times over the past several years, is now on Tbilisi-controlled territory, the Georgian State Security Service has told the Georgian Public Broadcaster earlier today.
Georgian Foreign Ministry has released its 2019 Compilation Report on human rights violations in the Russia-occupied territories of Georgia, stating that last year ‘was marked by grave and blatant violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including but not limited to violations of the right to life’ in the Russian-controlled Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions.
Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali have been listed as separate countries for registration on Chinese video-sharing social network Tik Tok.
Georgian citizen Apajad Magaramova, who was illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces several months ago, has been released earlier today, Radio Liberty has cited the Georgian State Security Service as saying.