DISINFO: The West engineered the anti-Russian protests in Georgia
SUMMARY
The Russophobic protests in Georgia, which erupted in the wake of a Russian lawmaker’s visit to Tbilisi, are a result of geopolitical engineering performed by Western politicians. By orchestrating the riots, the West is trying to rip apart the ties and common history between Russians and Georgians.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative alleging the undue influence of Western governments in the post-Soviet space; painting all manifestations of popular discontent in the region as manufactured elsewhere, and painting entire nations as pathologically Russophobic. The article states that the Tbilisi protests were "engineered" by Western politicians in advance, only to admit in the following paragraph that the riots were spontaneously caused by the controversial appearance in Georgian parliament of a Russian State Duma deputy. Only the latter claim is supported by evidence. The lawmaker in question has publicly supported the enduring Russian army presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two provinces which make up a fifth of Georgian territory and are recognised as occupied under Georgian law. Russian military presence is illegal and violates international law. No mention is made of the Russo-Georgian war or its possible effect on Russia-Georgia relations, although the report is quick to bemoan the alleged Western attempts to drive a wedge between the two countries and rewrite their "common history."