Abkhazia war veteran Topuria: ‘Warrior’ Baramidze never spent a single night in a trench; he swapped prisoners the same way he fought

“When we were forced to exchange 300 prisoners in Gudauta, Baramidze arrived from Tbilisi and gave an interview detailing the hardships he had endured. When we confronted him after the interview, he begged us, ‘If you don’t mind, let me take the credit,’” Lieutenant Colonel Malkhaz Topuria, a veteran of the Abkhazian and 2008 wars, recalled an incident in Gudauta.

Topuria stated that Baramidze’s recent comments served only to bring joy to the country to the north.

“I am someone who was directly involved in those prisoner exchanges and experienced firsthand Baramidze’s attitude toward the whole matter. This was during the March offensives, when we spent two weeks in Gudauta exchanging 300 prisoners. Once that living hell ended, a horror worse than war itself, Baramidze arrived from Tbilisi and gave an interview about the struggles he supposedly faced. I stand by every word I am saying.

When we confronted him after the interview, he said: ‘I need this for my career; you are just ordinary people, so please let me take the credit.’ He took the credit, and from then on, he walked around claiming he was the one who was exchanging prisoners. He swapped prisoners the same way he fought; he is a complete fraud in life, and he was a complete fraud in Abkhazia. Baramidze’s statement served only to delight the country to the north.

He feels no remorse whatsoever. ‘Warrior’ Baramidze has never spent a single night in a trench. He was always strolling around dressed to the nines and spotless. Their goal is clear: the separatist regime was delighted, and Russia was allowed to argue that ethnic cleansing was not incidental, but intentional, because, according to him, we Georgians were executing Abkhazians, while the Abkhazians were displaying Russian discipline. That is Baramidze’s logic,” stated Topuria.

Topuria noted that four days have passed, yet Baramidze shows no regret.

“Let him point his finger at who was executing whom. Was it me? Or other soldiers? Then he claims, ‘Not the army, but the people.’ By saying that, he made it even worse, implying that ordinary civilians were doing the executing, thereby putting the entire population in the crosshairs. Does he not have a single advisor to tell him, ‘Shut your mouth, you scum’? The only war he has ever seen is in the cinema. A man who dragged Georgia into the CIS has the nerve to turn around and call me a Russian stooge. He doesn’t have an ounce of manhood in him,” Topuria added.