Georgian volunteers fight with Ukrainians, to fight against “a common enemy”

This war is also his. György, 38, is one of the pillars of the Georgian national legion. “Many Georgians are come to help because we have a common enemy: evil against the civilized world”he explains. Since the beginning of the conflicthundreds of Georgian volunteers joined theUkraine with the objective of participate in the defeat of the Russia to prevent him from attacking Georgia afterwards. Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, also experienced the war against Moscow, it was in 2008 and it resulted in the annexation of 20% of its territory.

During the training of the battalion to which he belongs, Gyorgy points to the responsibility of Russia’s allies such as Syria, Iran or Belarus. “Birds of a feather flock together”he adds.

“In my life, I have witnessed five wars or civil wars in Georgia. All of them caused by Russia. So, for me, it was a duty. I had no choice but to come here”. Like all his comrades, György categorically rejects the accusations of neo-Nazism regularly formulated by Moscow. “In 2008, during the war against Russia, in Georgia, we unmasked them. They destroy cities, rape children, burn everything in their path. They kill. And are we the neo-Nazis?”he protests.

Since the start of the war, this Georgian battalion has lost around twenty combatants. Beka, 33, back from the front, escaped the worst: “My body is full of shrapnel, my leg and arm are broken”. Anger can be read in his eyes, he blames the Russian soldiers who have occupied part of his country since 2008. “I lost my village, my native land is occupied by the Russians. That’s the reason why I came to Ukraine to fight them and one day I will come back to Georgia and drive them out of my home”, he explains. These fighters are convinced: if Russia wins in Ukraine, it will turn to Georgia.