Day: February 2, 2026
The case of Tamar Mearakishvili
The de facto authorities of the occupied Tskhinvali region claim that local activist Tamar Mearakishvili cooperated with Georgian intelligence services and was engaged in espionage activities.
Tamar Mearakishvili, a Georgian citizen, was arrested in Tskhinvali on 22 December 2025 on charges of espionage. She was later expelled on 31 December to territory controlled by the central government of Georgia. Her arrest was widely seen as politically motivated, given that pressure on civil activists in the occupied regions has remained a systemic problem for many years.
The so-called South Ossetian state security committee claimed that Mearakishvili had been “recruited to carry out subversive tasks”, although these allegations have not been independently verified.
The agency also referred to Mearakishvili’s alleged contacts with various former and current Georgian officials, including representatives of the State Security Service and its current head, Mamuka Mdinaradze, as well as former minister for reintegration Paata Zakareishvili, former defence minister Irakli Alasania, and former prime minister from the Georgian Dream party, Irakli Garibashvili.
According to the de facto KGB, Mearakishvili was responsible for the “collection and transfer of information posing a threat to the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation”. The agency claims she gathered data on politicians, law enforcement officers, Russian servicemen, as well as their deployment and the movement of military equipment.
The statement by the occupation authorities also alleges that Mearakishvili secretly recorded conversations with officials and established close contacts with them in order to “obtain information for the execution of subversive tasks”.
The agency also places particular emphasis on Mearakishvili’s participation in training sessions and seminars abroad organised by non-governmental organisations. According to the occupation authorities, she “represented the South Ossetian side but distorted information about internal political processes”, thereby allegedly discrediting the “sovereignty and independence” of the de facto government.
The KGB further stated that the criminal case is at its final stage and warned that Mearakishvili’s “accomplices, both inside and outside the republic, will be identified and held accountable”.
The case of Tamar Mearakishvili
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