In unprecedented move, Georgian soldier Nadiradze who fought in Ukraine buried without honour guard
The body of Georgian volunteer soldier Vano Nadiradze, who had fought in Ukraine since the start of full-scale invasion, was buried today in Tbilisi, but without the customary honour guard that has been provided to the dozens of other Georgians who have died while fighting in Ukraine.
Nadiradze reportedly died of a heart attack on 22 June in Kyiv, and his body was moved to Georgia on 28 June. Family members, relatives, friends, and supporters met the body at the airport, but there was no official honour guard provided for him — reportedly the first time such an omission has occurred. As of the time of the publication, Georgia’s Defence Ministry has not commented on the lack of an honour guard for Nadiradze.
Over 80 Georgian fighters have died in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ana Maghradze, the mother of Vano Nadiradze, said she didn’t expect that an honour guard would be provided for her son.
‘My righteous hero son was met by a righteous, sufficient number of people, frank supporters who are more for me than the guard of honour. I repeat, I neither waited nor needed an honour guard. Ukraine dignified my heroic son and he was met by many decent people at the airport, my worthy hero, father, a child’, she wrote in a post on Facebook.
‘He fought in Georgia and in Ukraine heroically. Thank you Vano for this and thank you all who know the price of such heroes’, she continued.
Nadiradze, who died at the age of 55, attained the title of lieutenant colonel of a Georgian unit within Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces. In November 2024, a court in Donetsk, a Russian-occupied region of Ukraine, sentenced Nadiradze to fourteen years in jail in absentia for ‘mercenary participation in armed conflict’.
Nadiradze had actively reported on the war on his social media accounts and frequently commented on the conflict for Georgian media.
Hundreds gathered on the last day of his funeral at Kashveti church on Tuesday. Ukrainian and Georgian flags were present at the funeral.
When the coffin was brought from the church, people met Nadiradze with applause and chants: ‘Glory to heroes, glory to Georgia, glory to Ukraine’.
Georgia–Ukraine relations deteriorated after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Georgian Dream’s shift in foreign policy from pro to anti-Western.
In March 2022, Ukraine recalled its ambassador from Georgia. At the time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said the decision was due to the Georgian government’s ‘immoral position’ regarding the Russian invasion.
Nate Ostiller
