Day: October 9, 2025
- Putin admits Russian role in 2024 Azerbaijani jet crash, offers redress Al Jazeera
- 10 Months Later, Russia Admits Deadly Downing of Azerbaijani Plane The New York Times
- Putin admits Russia shot down Azerbaijan Airlines plane, killing 38 The Independent
- Putin admits Russian air defences downed Azerbaijan plane killing 38 Euronews.com
- ‘Did not directly hit plane’: Putin admits Russian missiles caused Azerbaijan plane crash that killed 38; Times of India
- Russian Missiles Exploded Near Azerbaijani Plane That Crashed Last Year, Putin Admits The Moscow Times
- Putin admits Russian missiles downed Azerbaijan jet last year South China Morning Post
- Putin says Russian air defenses were responsible for Azerbaijani jet’s crash last year, killing 38 ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
- Putin admits Russia shot down Azerbaijani passenger jet, killing 38 Sky News
Poet Zviad Ratiani was sentenced to two years in prison after Tbilisi City Court Judge Giorgi Gelashvili, in a last-minute decision, reclassified the charge from assaulting a police officer to a less severe “resistance, threat or violence” against an official.
The case stems from a June 23 nighttime incident near the Georgian Parliament, where Ratiani slapped a police officer in the face. He admitted from the outset that he slapped the officer but pleaded not guilty.
“I don’t consider this slap something to be proud of, nor something shameful or criminal – but with the premise that we are living in absurdity,” Ratiani said in his final remarks before the verdict on October 9, according to RFE/RL’s Georgian Service’s live blog from the court.
Ratiani’s verdict was reclassified in the same way as that of Mzia Amaghlobeli, who was initially charged with assaulting a police officer but was later sentenced to two years in prison under the same article. Like Ratiani, journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli was sentenced for slapping a police officer, Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze.
Prosecutors said Ratiani slapped police officer Teimuraz Temurashvili “with motives of hatred” and deliberately chose Rustaveli Avenue for the act because cameras and police were present.
Video footage from the night of June 23 showed officers detaining Ratiani and escorting him into a police van. In another clip, when asked why he was arrested, an officer responded that Ratiani had “approached an officer and hit him without any reason.” A separate video aired by the pro-government channel Rustavi 2 showed Ratiani speaking with a man near a police car before slapping him and being detained by several officers.
Ratiani, a vocal critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was previously detained on November 29, 2024, and sent to eight days of administrative detention on charges of petty hooliganism and disobedience to police. He later said he was beaten and insulted while in custody.
“The act of slapping was given a political context by Mzia Amaghlobeli and Nino Datashvili,” Ratiani further said in his final remarks.
Nino Datashvili, a teacher currently in pretrial detention, was detained in June over an incident at Tbilisi City Court, where she was forcibly removed from the courtroom by bailiffs and flailed her arms as she was restrained. She faces four to seven years in prison on a similar charge of assaulting a law enforcement officer.
Mzia Amaghlobeli and Nino Datashvili, along with Zviad Ratiani and dozens of others who have been arrested and sentenced to prison amid ongoing anti-government protests and state repression, are widely considered to be political prisoners.
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Zaharova on Georgia protest
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, commenting on the 4 October rally in Tbilisi, repeated the ruling Georgian Dream party’s claim that the Georgian government faced an attempted overthrow with Western backing.
Zakharova said the “interference of Western players” in Georgia’s internal affairs is alarming.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has blamed the EU ambassador for the protests in Tbilisi and called on him to “strongly condemn what is happening.”
Kobakhidze said the EU representative is backing an “announced attempt to overthrow the constitutional order” in Georgia.
“Serious concern is caused by the open interference in Georgia’s internal affairs by a well-known group of Western ‘players’. Supported by the EU and the Kyiv government, opposition figures linked to the United National Movement of the Georgian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili, convicted in Georgia, openly called for the overthrow of the legitimate authorities.
On the evening of 4 October, an attempt was made to storm one of the official buildings in central Tbilisi. All the old ‘templates’ that have been actively tested in different parts of the world were used,” said Maria Zakharova.
“According to her, the organisers of the rally aimed to establish a ‘puppet regime’ in Georgia, subordinated to the West, in order to use the country for a ‘new adventure’ against Russia.
‘The obvious goal of this failed provocation was to implement a ‘Maidan’ scenario in Georgia, set up a puppet government there, fully subordinate the republic to the will of the West, and cement its anti-Russian stance.
All this was intended to use Georgia for new adventures against our country and to destabilise the situation on Russia’s southern borders. In short, to turn it into a tool in foreign hands for geopolitical confrontation.
Meanwhile, the fundamental interests of the Georgian people are cynically ignored by those behind these colour revolutions, Maidans, and coups,’ said Zakharova.”
According to her, Moscow seeks ‘equal and mutually beneficial’ relations with the countries of the South Caucasus:
‘We reaffirm our unwavering determination to establish peaceful, equal, and mutually beneficial relations with all South Caucasus countries. We oppose turning the region into an arena for yet another tense confrontation. It is perfectly clear that in such a negative scenario, only the mentioned external forces have an interest, pursuing solely their own opportunistic goals.’
On 4 October, Georgia held municipal elections, which were boycotted by a significant part of the opposition.
Some members of the public, believing that the ruling Georgian Dream party had rigged the 26 October 2024 parliamentary elections, also abstained from voting. As a result, voter turnout was the lowest in Georgia’s independent history.
On the same day, a large protest took place in Tbilisi, ending with an attempted storming of the presidential palace and clashes with the police.
Security forces used water cannons and tear gas. More than twenty people were detained, and criminal proceedings were opened against some under charges of attempting a coup.
Zaharova on Georgia protest
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- Putin admits Russian air defences were to blame for Azerbaijani jet crash The Guardian
- Putin admits Russian role in 2024 Azerbaijani jet crash, offers redress Al Jazeera
- Putin says Russian air defences were to blame for Azerbaijani plane crash Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Amid Strained Relations With Baku, Putin Admits Russian Role In Azerbaijan Jet Crash Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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- Putin says Russian air defences responsible for Azerbaijani jet’s crash last year, killing 38 The Hindu
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- Putin admits to Russia’s role in 2024 Azerbaijani plane crash that killed 38 | World News Hindustan Times