“All the documents signed by Saakashvili’s government, including the Council of Europe resolution and the Tagliavini report, stand as irrefutable proof that Saakashvili’s regime started the war. There is no escaping these facts; it was a betrayal,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists.

Speaking to journalists, Kobakhidze described the former president’s actions as an act of “betrayal” that dealt the gravest blow to Georgia’s national interests.

“Today, we must recall all the documents signed by the then government, including the Tagliavini report, which was actually approved by the then United National Movement regime, documents that clearly state that the Saakashvili regime started the war. There was also the Council of Europe resolution, adopted at the time with near-unanimity, which explicitly recognised that the Saakashvili administration had initiated large-scale hostilities. Furthermore, there is the decree issued by the President of Georgia declaring military operations, which confirms that Russia entered Georgia on August 8. These documents are inescapable; they are indisputable proof that the government of that time started the war and inflicted the heaviest blow to our national interests. This is nothing short of treason,” said the Prime Minister.

According to Irakli Kobakhidze, these documents reflect a chronology of facts showing that on 7 August 2008, the regime opened artillery fire on Tskhinvali, which was followed the next day by Russian troops entering Georgia.

“Theoretically, if we were to launch an assault tomorrow on Tskhinvali or Sokhumi, war would begin. What is true is reflected in the Council of Europe resolution, which states that there was an escalation; however, this escalation transformed into large-scale hostilities after the then regime stormed Tskhinvali without warning.

When dawn broke on August 8, 2008, the then regime proudly announced to us from the very morning that they were capturing village after village, settlement after settlement, advancing towards Tskhinvali, and that they had entered Tskhinvali itself, heading towards the Roki Tunnel. This was not a defensive operation. They directly declared they were implementing the restoration of constitutional order through offensive actions.

Saakashvili’s party committed the gravest treason, which resulted in more than 400 lives lost.

These people, of course, sacrificed themselves for the homeland and national interests. If we were to commit betrayal tomorrow, launch such an operation, embark on an adventure following external orders, our soldiers would have joined the war and sacrificed themselves for the homeland, but this would not justify our betrayal. This is what Saakashvili’s regime has done,” Prime Minister Kobakhidze stated.

According to Kobakhidze, the fact is that the Saakashvili regime signed a Council of Europe resolution. This document, endorsed by all of Europe, explicitly states that the then-regime started the war.

“All the rest is being a ‘Natsi.’ ‘Nats-ism’ means falling out of logic. Being a ‘Natsi’ means either you cannot think or you do not think. Heroic soldiers were sacrificed to the shameful United National Movement party,” Kobakhidze concluded.

It has been 17 years since the 2008 Russo-Georgian war. On August 7, 2008, separatist forces commenced intense shelling of Georgian villages, prompting a response from Georgian forces. The following day, Russian occupation troops entered the region. As a result of Russia’s military aggression against Georgia, 411 people lost their lives, approximately 130,000 citizens became IDPs in their own country, numerous villages were destroyed, and the city of Gori, along with strategic facilities, were heavily bombed. Russia continues to occupy 20 per cent of Georgia’s territory to this day.