“The oligarch follows the orders of the Kremlin.” What is the worst scenario for Georgia and how did the Russian Federation miscalculate — an interview with the leader of the Georgian Legion

— If you look at what is happening in Georgia now, after the parliamentary elections, you may get the impression that all the most pessimistic predictions about how the situation in Georgia might develop have come true. Is it really so?

– In fact, I predicted that it would be like that. I hope that the prediction, where I said that the Georgian authorities may involve Russian troops and start shooting at the protesters, will not come true. I really hope that this clause is not implemented. But [мої прогнози] about the falsification of the elections, about the further actions of the opposition coincided with one hundred percent accuracy.

Unfortunately, there is only one fact: the Georgian government, which is subordinate to the Kremlin, falsified the elections, the society is not satisfied with this and took to the streets. I think this dissatisfaction has already grown into a very big dissatisfaction. And Georgian society is not going to give up.

We fully support the Georgian people, we fully support every member of Georgian society. We ourselves are like that. And I hope very soon we will see re-elections and political ones [зміни] in Georgia.

— If it was really obvious that the ruling Georgian Dream party would hold on to power, if its sponsor is the richest man in the country, the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who does not want to lose his influence, then were there no options to prevent such events?

— In my opinion, there is no method of influencing the elections until they take place. Unfortunately, this is a global practice. We have to wait for the votes to be counted and then draw conclusions.

Georgians probably still hoped that the elections would be held without falsifications. I immediately said that this could not happen.

Putin’s protégé in Georgia is the oligarch Ivanishvili, who is a shareholder of Gazprom. He will hold on to power until the end, because the Kremlin masters told him to do so. He has no other way out, because all his finances depend on the authorities of the Russian Federation. In principle, he will do absolutely everything.

He is not considered a Georgian either, except for his last name, there is absolutely nothing Georgian about him.

I’ve seen the presidential bid he’s trying to push. In order to insult the Georgian people, he takes the most inveterate, I don’t know what to call them, the most inveterate swindlers that can be in politics, and nominates him as a presidential candidate. This is an insult to the Georgian people, it is an insult to Georgian society, and Georgian society reacted accordingly.