On August 4, 2023, Georgian-language Facebook accounts (1, 2, 3), including blogger Beka Vardosanidze, published photos of journalists of “TV Pirveli” and “Alt-Info,” who were covering the disaster in Shovi. According to the authors of the posts, “TV Pirveli” journalist Nanuka Kajaia laughs while covering the disaster, while “Alt-Info” journalist Sofia Javelidze “barely holds her tears.”
The posts disseminated about the TV Pirveli journalist on how she covered the Shovi tragedy are manipulative. The circulated photo is cut from an authentic video; however, in reality, Nanuka Kajaia did not smile when talking about the tragedy, but when talking about Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s statement made a year ago about the purchase of airplanes after Gharibashvili said that he did not make such a promise.
The shot featuring Nanuka Kajaia is selectively cut out of her live feed, and the authors of the posts present it as if she is laughing while talking about the tragedy in Shovi. Actually, at the moment of smiling, she was talking about the statements made by Irakli Gharibashvili regarding the purchase of airplanes.
The circulated footage was cut from the live coverage of the coordination council meeting held about the disaster in Shovi, Georgia. After the meeting, Prime Minister Garibashvili was answering journalists’ questions, and Nanuka Kajaia asked him why the government’s promise to buy rescue planes a year ago was not fulfilled. After asking this question, Gharibashvili told the journalist that his television is deceiving the population and this is “a frivolous lie.”
It was about this statement of Garibashvili that journalist Nanuka Kajaya was talking about live when she smiled.
Nanuka Kajaia, TV Pirveli journalist: “You just heard Irakli Gharibashvili, who says that the media representatives seem to be providing the public with wrong information about his statement regarding helicopters, which can be easily found on the Internet; this statement can be found with one the click. He himself said that they would sell comfortable helicopters and buy a new rescue helicopter to be used during such tragedies, although the Prime Minister apparently did not remember his own statement.”
In August 2022, Irakli Garibashvili announced that the government decided to purchase three new helicopters in return for the return of the “Super Puma” purchased by the previous government. A year ago, this topic resurfaced after the tragedy that happened in Gudauri when a paraglider crashed and the rescue helicopter that came to help it exploded, resulting in the death of 8 people.
On August 3, a landslide occurred in Racha, Shovi, which killed 21 people. The search for the 12 missing persons is still ongoing.
About the Sources:
Facebook users that have shared the manipulation have disseminated disinformation in the past as well. For details, see:
Beka Vardosanidze:
- Kremlin Propaganda Claims that Zelenskyy has a Doppelganger
- Disinformation as if Product Prices Have Increased 8 Times in the UK
Khatia Janashia:
- Videomanipulation, as if an Orthodox Church was Burned in Ukraine
- Fabricated Quote of Misha Mshvildadze about Elene Khoshtaria (In Georgian)
Nikusha Shanidze:
Shiin Evropisken:
- Pro-Government “I Ucnobi” Amplifies the Kremlin Conspiracy about the Alleged Organ Trafficking in Ukraine
- Pennsylvania School Club Meeting or AI-generated Photos – What Do the Shots Actually Depict
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