Georgia thwarts plot by Ukrainian citizen to smuggle explosives into Russia.

Explosive devices seized by authorities (Photo: Security Service of Georgia).

Six devices were "transported from the Ukrainian city of Odessa into Georgia on January 19, via Romania, Bulgaria and Türkiye, in a small truck belonging to a Ukrainian citizen," Georgian security services said.

These devices contained 14 kg of C-4, a type of plastic explosive.

Georgian security agencies said authorities discovered three explosive devices at the Georgia-Russia border checkpoint, and later found the remaining three in the capital, Tbilisi.

According to a statement from security agencies, Andrei Sharashidze, a Ukrainian citizen of Georgian origin, coordinated the plan to transport the explosives.

The statement also said that seven Georgians, three Ukrainians, and two Armenians were involved in transporting the explosives, but "none of them were aware of the presence of explosives" in the truck.

Tbilisi is accused of increasing cooperation with the Kremlin, even though Russian forces have been deployed to parts of Georgia since 2008, when Moscow invaded the Caucasus nation.

Georgia's strengthening ties with Moscow have strained relations between Tbilisi and Kyiv. These tensions worsened after Georgia imprisoned former pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili, who holds Ukrainian citizenship.

In September 2023, the Georgian government said that Giorgi Lortkipanidze, the deputy director of Ukraine's military counterintelligence agency and former deputy minister of the Georgian Interior , was plotting a coup in Georgia.

In July 2023, Kyiv expelled Georgia's ambassador, a year after recalling its own ambassador from Tbilisi. That same month, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Georgia's leading airline, Georgian Airways, for resuming flights to Russia.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/gruzia-pha-am-muu-cong-dan-ukraine-tuon-thuoc-no-vao-nga-20240205214452880.htm