Former Georgian Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze is heading a combat unit formed to fight on the Russian side against Ukraine, Russia’s TASS reported, referring to the ex-official as a “commander” of the volunteer unit “Georgievsk” and a veteran of the “special military operation,” Moscow’s term for Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine.
Partskhaladze, once known as a close associate of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili but now facing several criminal probes in Georgia, reportedly holds Russian citizenship and in recent years has added “Romanov” to his surname, becoming Romanov-Partskhaladze.
A picture uploaded to Telegram by pro-Kremlin figure Mamuka Pipia shows Partskhaladze in a military uniform bearing the name “Romanov,” with the Russian flag in the background.
“It was precisely Russian Mikhail Yegorov and Georgian Meliton Kantaria who raised the Victory Flag over the Reichstag in 1945,” TASS quoted Partskhaladze. “One in every four of my compatriots fought for freedom. I am certain that, just as then, the symbol of the enemy’s defeat will once again be raised by a Russian and a Georgian.”
He was further cited as noting that the unit’s name “Georgievsk” was inspired by the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk.
The signing of the Treaty of Georgievsk, which placed the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti under Russian protection, was followed by the eventual annexation of Russian kingdoms by the Russian Empire, turning it into a subject of fierce historical debate in Georgia.
TASS also cited him as saying that he voluntarily decided to fight against Ukraine on the Russian side, noting that since the start of the hostilities, he and his team have been “actively assisting Russian servicemen as well as civilians in the Donetsk People’s Republic [a self-proclaimed entity in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory] and the Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod regions.”
Partskhaladze, one of the most controversial figures in Georgian politics for more than a decade, was appointed Prosecutor General in November 2013 but resigned less than two months later amid questions about his academic credentials and reports of a prior criminal record. He was sanctioned in 2023 by the United States over alleged links with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), and in 2025 by the United Kingdom over his support of Russia’s war in Ukraine
While authorities and Georgia’s central bank initially appeared supportive of Partskhaladze against international sanctions, he later seemed to fall out with Georgian Dream leadership, including being targeted in various probes and later accused of orchestrating the high-profile contract killing of businessman Levan Jangveladze, the brother of criminal underworld figure Merab Jangveladze.
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