DISINFO: Georgia and Ukraine collaborate in orchestrating anti-government protests
SUMMARY
It was exactly Georgian snipers who opened fire in Ukrainian Maidan in 2014. At least three Georgian snipers came forward and told how in 2014, following the order of Saakashvili they were sent to Ukraine and paid 20 USD a day. This is how Maidan started with later allegations that it was Berkut which shot at civilians. This is a clear precedent which shows that certain forces in Ukraine and Georgia work together and “coloured” anti-government scenarios are played out by common effort.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory consistent with many recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Euromaidan and colour revolutions. See many previous disinformation cases about the alleged Georgian snipers in Ukraine. The protests in Tbilisi started spontaneously during the morning of June 20th 2019 when a Russian MP from the Communist Party, Sergei Gavrilov, took the Georgian Parliament Speaker's seat during an annual meeting of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO). The opposition boycotted the presence of the Russian delegation in Tbilisi which then grew to the protests in front of the Parliament. As a response, Vladimir Putin has temporarily banned Georgian airlines from flying to Russia and called on Russian citizens in Georgia to leave the country.