Citizens, who gathered on Rustaveli Avenue, say that protesters are preventing them from accessing the April 9 Memorial.

“I am an ordinary person, a citizen. I participated in the April 9 protests in the 1990s, yet I was unable to bring flowers today. Our generation fought for freedom; do not deny that, for we will pass it on to you. We are not opposing anyone, but it breaks my heart that my son’s peers deny me the opportunity to pay my respects to the souls of the perished,” stated one citizen.

Another individual expressed frustration after he attempted to lay flowers at the memorial, only to have them taken away and be prevented from honouring his tribute.

“I want to honour those who died on April 9, but some drunkard is taking my flowers from me,” he told journalists.

A different citizen shared with media representatives that he was denied access to the memorial and sought refuge in the Kashveti Church.

“Today, as every year, I came to pay my respects to the memory of those who perished on April 9 because I participated in that pivotal day. I have fought in all the wars in Georgia, and this gesture was meant to honour those who sacrificed their lives for our homeland’s freedom. Yet, sadly, young people—perhaps unknowingly—prevented me from visiting the site where I protested lawlessness and the deprivation of our liberties years ago. Once again, I was forced to take refuge in Kashveti,” he remarked.

Additionally, protesters at Rustaveli Avenue denied Zaira Mikatadze, a participant in the April 9 uprising and a veteran of the Abkhazian war, access to the memorial.

“If you respect the April 9 uprising, know that I am a participant in it. What does Russia have to do with this? I am here as a participant in the April 9 uprising,” Zaira Mikatadze addressed the crowd.

When asked by protesters who started the war, she responded firmly: “Who started it? Russia.”

In light of these events, Zaira Mikatadze also took to social media to express her experience:

“This is what today’s protest is about. They did not allow me into the memorial; they pushed me out of the line. Georgia will not be silenced by a 200-person parade,” she wrote.