Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) has announced that it arrested two foreign nationals in Kutaisi for attempting to purchase uranium and cesium-137 for $3 million. The agency has claimed that the pair intended to transport the materials to another country.
The SSG announced the arrests in a lengthy statement detailing other operations they had conducted throughout the week.
According to the SSG, the two men, whose nationalities or identities have not been made public, were arrested in Kutaisi in the Imereti region.
The statement was accompanied by a video showing the arrests, in addition to a photograph showing what appears to be a vial of uranium and a container — possibly holding the cesium-137.
The agency added that the two had been coming to Georgia in recent weeks to purchase the uranium, and had been preparing for its transport abroad to an unspecified country. The SSG said that the materials are ‘usually used for various criminal activities, including terrorist purposes’.
The rest of the statement on the SSG’s website details their arrest of a number of other people for various crimes, including 12 accused of illegal logging — among whom were Environmental Ministry officials.
Others arrested included officials from the Batumi and Lagodekhi municipalities on charges of taking bribes.
The SSG capped off its statement saying that corruption remained a ‘serious challenge’ despite the ‘unprecedented scale in the fight against corruption in recent months’.
They stressed, however, that the agency’s operational information had increased by ‘about 24 times’ in the past six months, and that the agency’s resources and capabilities had improved.
The SSG occasionally publishes reports of arrests of persons involved in the trafficking of radioactive substances.
In October 2025, they detained three Chinese nationals for attempting to purchase two kilogrammes of uranium. They accused the three of seeking to transport the material to China via Russia.
In July of the same year, the SSG detained two people in Batumi they accused of attempting to sell an unspecified amount of uranium for $3 million. They said one of the detainees was Georgian, while the other was an unspecified foreign national.
Yousef Bardouka
