Georgia breaks tradition, skips honor guard for Vano Nadiradze killed fighting for Ukraine
Photo: Vano Nadiradze (facebook.com/vano.nadiradze)
In Georgia, an honor guard did not meet the coffin with the body of Vano Nadiradze, a soldier who fought on the side of Ukraine, at the airport. This is the first time an honor guard has not been sent to meet a volunteer, reports Echo of the Caucasus.
Vano Nadiradze's former comrades-in-arms, his relatives and friends, as well as other Georgians, gathered at the Tbilisi airport. They chanted “Glory to the Heroes!”.
According to Echo of the Caucasus, when Georgians killed in Ukraine return, their bodies are also met at the airport by an honor guard. However, unlike in other cases, Nadiradze was not met by an honor guard.
The Georgian Ministry of Defense has not yet commented on this situation.
The death of Vano Nadiradze
Vano Nadiradze fought on the side of Ukraine from the first months of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. He headed the Georgian group in the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine.
The warrior regularly reported on the successes of the Ukrainian army and informed Georgian media and social media users about the course of the war.
Nadiradze died on June 22 in Kyiv. The cause of death was a heart attack.
In Russia, Vano Nadiradze was sentenced in absentia to 14 years in prison for “mercenary participation in an armed conflict.”
According to Echo of the Caucasus, more than 80 Georgian soldiers have been killed on the front lines since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
