On May 9 and 10, the Facebook accounts Daat Tsabadze and Boris Dauri-Giorgadze published a video of Irakli Tabliashvili, a journalist with Formula TV. The video is a fragment of Tabliashvili’s TV program Context. According to the video, the journalist is alleged to have stated that “Ukraine will have a legitimate right to bomb the de jure government of Georgia.”
The video in question has been edited and distributed in a manipulative manner. On November 4, 2023, Irakli Tabliashvili discussed in his TV program Context the purported Russian plan to deploy a military-naval base in Ochamchire. The journalist posited that if this happens, Ukraine will have a legitimate right to bomb the Russian fleet stationed on the de jure territory of Georgia.
On November 4, 2023, Irakli Tabliashvili read an editorial in his TV program Context on Formula TV. In his monologue, “Russia Wants to Import War!”, the journalist focused on Russia’s alleged plan to deploy a military-naval fleet in Ochamchire. In his monologue, Tabliashvili posits that the deployment of Russia’s fleet in Ochamchire would be detrimental to Ukraine, as the same fleet would be capable of launching an attack on Ukraine.
| Irakli Tabliashvili’s monologue in the edited video | Full monologue by Irakli Tabliashvili |
| “Ukraine, and I say this emphatically, as I have already stated in the previous program, will have a legitimate, I repeat, a legitimate right to bomb, in the literal sense, the de jure government of Georgia, and these possible developments will completely destroy our Black Sea infrastructure, hardly constructed logistical lines, and many other things…” | ,,…the war can be imported not by a non-existent global war party, there is no such party, or by the opposition or the harshest and most radical critics of the government, but – you will be surprised, no, not surprised – by Russia, which is retreating back from Ukraine and withdrawing its troops from Sevastopol, moving mainly to Novorossiysk. For example, not specifically the Black Sea Fleet, but a part of this fleet is being transferred to Ochamchire, a part, a small part, but an important part, such a mobile part that the fleet stationed in Ochamchire will have, you will be surprised or not, the capacity of attacking Ukraine, at least a supportive capacity. As a result, Ukraine, and I say this emphatically, as I have already stated in the previous program, will have a legitimate right to bomb the Russian base dislocated on the de jure territory of Georgia.” |
It is not uncommon for edited videos to be disseminated on social media. The Myth Detector has verified the authenticity of certain videos that were previously disseminated. Below are some examples:
- Edited Video of Japaridze’s Visit to Lie Detector Circulated on Facebook
- Edited Video of Nika Gvaramia’s Address Circulated on Facebook
About the sources:
The fake Facebook account Daat Tsabadze has been operational on social media since 2019. The same account was involved in the discrediting campaign of the anti-occupation protest. False information spread by Daat Tsabadze has been verified by Myth Detector on numerous occasions in the past.
The Facebook account of Boris Dudauri-Giorgadze regularly spreads pro-Russian, anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western narratives. The disinformation disseminated by him has been verified by Myth Detector on multiple occasions.
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