An initiative dubbed the ‘Council for Monitoring Russophobia’ has been launched in Georgia by the Kremlin-linked NGO the Eurasia Institute, the Russian state-run media outlet Sputnik Georgia has reported. The council will collect information about ‘manifestations of Russophobia’, including ‘dissemination of false information about Russia and distortion of historical events to discrimination based on language or ethnicity’.
The Eurasia Institute is headed by Gulbaat Rtskhiladze, who has a long history of pro-Russian actions and sentiments. Rtskhiladze reportedly travelled to the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine in 2022, telling the Georgian media outlet iFact at the time that he was the only Georgian reporter to visit the area.
As Sputnik Georgia reported, ‘a group of lawyers is also being created under the Council, which will give a legal assessment of identified cases and, if necessary, prepare appropriate appeals. The results of the monitoring are planned to be published once every three months’.
Furthermore, the council ‘will pay special attention to events and statements made after February 2022’, when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, noting that ‘the number of anti-Russian statements and actions in Georgia has increased noticeably’ since then.
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