Ukraine’s Defence Ministry Intelligence alleged that Moscow is establishing channel for smuggling through Georgian territory

Moscow is allegedly creating a smuggling corridor through Georgian territory, according to Ukraine's Defence Ministry Intelligence. "The Russian Federation has lost its capacity to provide a wide variety of military, dual, and civilian commodities as a result of international sanctions," it claimed, adding that "to avoid the restrictions, Russian operatives set up smuggling channels, which traverse, in particular, via Georgian territory."

"At the same time, officials of Georgian security services were ordered by the political leadership not to interfere with smugglers' activities," the Ukrainian military intelligence claimed. The idea of resuming aviation communication between Georgia and Russia, which has been banned by Vladimir Putin since June 2019 due to anti-occupation protests in Tbilisi, is also being studied, according to the same statement.

Georgia's Finance Ministry dismissed Ukraine's charges that it aided Russian smuggling of military, dual-use, and civilian goods across Georgian territory. Georgia's Ministry of Finance stated, "this is a wholly false and ludicrous charge. Georgia has been exerting strong supervision over all customs checkpoints in the country and monitoring arriving and departing cargo since the introduction of international sanctions on the Russian Federation." Any items, both military and dual use, as well as all other sanctioned products, "are subject to tight customs monitoring by the Georgian Government," according to the Ministry of Finance.

Georgia's State Security Service (SSS) has ordered Ukraine's Defence Ministry Intelligence to "quickly relay evidence" on Georgian security services allowing Russia to develop a smuggling corridor through Georgia. The SSS noted in its statement that "covert relations" between Georgian security services and their Russian counterparts in this respect would be regarded "a crime of a particularly serious nature under Georgian law." The Security Service stated, "the Government of Georgia would be uncompromising in any probable occurrences of such a crime."

The Ukrainian defence intelligence charges, it warned, "would be regarded as planned deception" if Ukraine fails to disclose proof supporting its accusations with Tbilisi.

Georgian Dream accuses Ukraine officials of hybrid war

MP Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, alleged that "representatives of the Georgian opposition, the party of war, occupying different places in the Ukrainian Government and their comrades are conducting an open, unmasked hybrid war" against Georgia. 

The senior GD official held a press conference in response to the Ukrainian Defence Ministry of Defence (MoD)'s claim that Georgia allows Russia to set up a smuggling channel through its territory, and Foreign Minister Kuleba's subsequent comments that Kyiv is waiting for "evidence and convincing arguments" that Tbilisi is not assisting Moscow. "We have heard another, this time entirely unheard-of assertion, which is humiliating to our nation as well as each and every Georgian citizen," MP Mdinaradze added, referring to MoD’s allegation. He blamed "some officials" in the Ukrainian government and the Georgian opposition for making "such claims," notably Giorgi Lortkipanidze, a former Deputy Interior Minister who just became the deputy chief of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Intelligence.

"We clearly demand that relevant Ukrainian authorities show any sort of proof concerning the heinous charge levelled against Georgia, or openly, using the same channels and forms, repudiate their own foolish accusations directed at Georgia, a friend and partner nation," Mdinaradze stated. MP Mdinaradze pointed out that Kyiv has not penalised a number of nations that "not only refuse to join the sanctions, but also, unlike Georgia, do not publicly declare their support for Ukraine on any international venues." According to MP Mdinaradze, Georgia has backed Ukraine on "every international platform," including voting to exclude Russia from the CoE and co-sponsoring UN resolutions. "As part of the hybrid war undertaken against Georgia, officials of the war party as well as the Ukrainian Government frequently reinforce the assertion that Georgia has done nothing to help Ukraine," he continued.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that if Kyiv had not "influenced Georgia, other countries through which the Russians are attempting to circumvent sanctions, they would have done it long ago and the impact of the sanctions on Russia would have been minimised."