“Ukrainian special services have repeatedly tried to harm us — what else could they do? They are at war and want to drag Georgia into it,” the Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said.

Asked about the Prosecutor’s Office investigation into the transport of a large quantity of explosives to Georgia, Papuashvili said such operations by Ukrainian special services have occurred before as well.

“This is not the first time operations involving Ukrainian special services have taken place in Georgia ahead of elections. Investigations have indicated that the 2017 car explosion that targeted Givi Targamadze was organized by Ukrainian special services, and that during the 2021 elections Mikheil Saakashvili was brought into Georgia with their assistance. Law enforcement also discovered a separate case of imported explosives detected shortly before the current elections.

I ask Georgians who admire President Zelensky to consider this: when a foreign country’s intelligence services carry out actions that disrupt our politics, import explosives, or attempt to influence our internal affairs, can that be called friendship? Our security system has switched to preventing threats originating from these actors. We have not publicized every measure we took, but such activity cannot be ignored.

Those detained claim the explosives were intended for transport to Russia — yet Avlabari is not Russia. Even if we accepted that explanation, 2.4 kg of hexogen is a serious danger: it can detonate from impact or accidental ignition. Authorities prohibit items such as lighters and aerosols on planes precisely because of the risk of explosion. Had such an explosive device detonated in Avlabari, the consequences for civilians would have been catastrophic.

It appears these operations were intended to achieve political goals at any cost. Some Georgians who collaborated — Georgians by origins, yet acting against Georgia’s interests — have repeatedly tried to harm our country. Fortunately, Georgian security forces acted resolutely and prevented greater harm. If foreign actors expected us to escalate with Russia at their prompting, they misjudged us: we did not allow Georgia to be dragged into their war,” Papuashvili stated.