Two arrested in murder of Russian national in Georgia

Georgian police have detained two people on charges of murdering a Russian national in Svaneti, western Georgia.

The Interior Ministry has stated that the murder took place on 5 January, as the unidentified victim, along with a woman were headed to Mestia, Svaneti.

The ministry said that their attackers stole their phones and shot the man dead, and then threw his body into the Nakra River. The police were able to find the victim’s body in the river following a two-day search of the region.

Nikolai Levchich, a Russian blogger based in Georgia, identified the murdered victim as Viktor Solovyov, a Russian national. He published the account of the woman who was traveling with Solovyov on his Telegram channel, with the text reportedly being provided by her family.

In her account, the woman said that she and Solovyov were headed by car to the Tetnuldi resort in Mestia, where they stopped to take pictures of the snow. She said a Subaru parked nearby, with its passengers asking the pair if they needed any help, to which they said no.

Later on, as they were driving, the woman said that the same Subaru stopped in the middle of the road in front of them, blocking it.

‘When Vitya [Solovyov] saw from a distance that they were stopped in the middle of the road, he asked me to take a knife from the car’s glove compartment and give it to him. He stopped, got out, and asked them what had happened’, she said.

‘They asked for an air pump. He took it out and gave it to them. Then, some conflict started’, she said, adding that the men demanded that they give them their phones because they believed they had taken pictures of them.

A user named Alina commented on the Telegram post, claiming that she was the woman accompanying Solovyov, but the comment was later deleted. The user claimed that there were three phones in the car — one belonging to her and two to Solovyov. She said that one of the assailants came into the car and took both of Solovyov’s phones.

Alina then went on to say that she could hear Solovyov telling the assailants not to touch him, before hearing two gunshots. She said she was unable to determine who had fired them, nor could she see Solovyov afterwards.

After that, Alina said that the assailants remained with her for a while, and threatening her with a firearm, they demanded that she hand over her phone, which she managed to hide. She said that she was driven away from the scene of the crime in Solovyov’s car, accompanied by the car the attackers were driving, before being moved to their car.

She says that she tried to contact the police when the assailants left her alone for a while, and again when they had gone completely.

Alina additionally clarified that the knife Solovyov had taken from the car was a ‘regular folding knife, which is kept in the car’s glove compartment just in case’. She emphasised that Solovyov took the knife for safety reasons and did not threaten anyone.

‘Viktor asked me to take out the knife because the situation seemed strange. Throughout the journey, the car would sometimes overtake us and other times pull over to the side, which raised some suspicion, especially when they stopped and blocked our path with the car… he took it for his own safety, in case he needed to defend himself’, she said.

If found guilty, the two detainees could face a prison sentence of 16 to 20 years or life imprisonment. They are being charged with armed robbery, premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances, and the illegal acquisition and possession of a firearm.