The Georgian National Legion wing of the Georgian Army has been listed as a terrorist organization by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The decision in this regard was taken after the decision of the Southern District Military Court which took effect on May 4.
It is to be specifically mentioned that the Georgian Legion is a prominent group with 700 to 1000 fighters. Out of the total strength of the group most are Georgian citizens; however it also includes some foreign volunteers. The members of the group have been fighting in Ukraine since 2014 as Russia started the war in Donbas.
The group existed separately but in February 2016, the Legion was integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces structure. According to the reports, “ The Southern District Military Court has given the decision based on the evidence collected by the FSB and order to label the “Georgian National Legion” as a terrorist organization. After the decision of the court and the provisos of the federal law “On Countering Terrorism ” the group has been included in the Unified Federal List of organizations.
It is also worth mentioning that the the names of the organizations in this list included many foreign and international ones. The inclusion of the name in the list of terrorist organizations imposes any restrictions.
Their activities are banned in toto under Russian law. On the other hand the Commander of the Georgian Legion, Mamuka Mamulashvili told the media after the development that this group will continue its activities for the service of the nation and that there will be no effect of the group’s inclusion in the terrorist group list.
He also said instead of any remorse we will rather celebrate this decision of the Russian authorities to ban the decision of the court as well.” Mamulashvili in the past claimed that he was poisoned supposedly by Russian special services.
