The Russian hacking campaign is trying to thwart Georgia’s western route

Tbilisi, Georgia —

Just ahead of Saturday’s Georgian parliamentary elections, a Bloomberg investigation uncovered a years-long Russian hacking campaign that targeted the Georgian government, major companies and critical infrastructure.

Analysts see the large-scale cyber attack, which gave Moscow access to sensitive information and the ability to disrupt vital systems, as part of Russia’s efforts to undermine Georgia’s pro-Western aspirations.

“One of the most shocking revelations was that the (Georgian) Foreign Ministry was hacked 114 times, with information collected from embassies and even high-ranking officials,” Giorgi Iashvili, a Tbilisi-based cybersecurity expert, told Voice of America’s Georgian. employ.

“It shows how deeply the Russian cyber campaigns have penetrated our systems. Not only public institutions were affected, but also the private sector – telecom companies, key energy infrastructure and service providers.”

Between 2017 and 2020, Bloomberg reported, Russian intelligence services GRU and FSB successfully infiltrated key Georgian ministries, as well as the country’s energy sector and telecommunications networks. They have gained access to Georgia’s central bank, election commission and oil terminals, exposing the country’s vulnerabilities.

“What the Russians are trying to do here now is identify the weak points for possible sabotage, identify where and how they can intervene in Georgia’s domestic politics, more clearly and aggressively if necessary, and thirdly, build a network of agents. influence,” said former official of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs Shota Utiashvili.

The Georgian government, widely seen as biased toward Moscow, dismisses these concerns.

In an interview with VOA, Archil Talakvadze, MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, said: “In the field of cybersecurity, we now have stronger systems. The State Security Service of the Ministry of the Interior is better prepared. to counter this threat.”

Others, however, are not convinced.

Giga Bokeria, former secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council and now chairman of the opposition Federalists party, says Russian actions go beyond hacking and espionage efforts in Georgia.

“We have a government that allows, embraces and even finances Russian infiltration into our political life, economic sphere and security services because they are natural allies. And we have overwhelming evidence of that,” he told VOA.

Last month, US officials told VOA that Washington has prepared sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire Georgian Dream founder and former prime minister, accusing him of acting under Russia’s direction. Ivanishvili is widely seen as the power broker behind the Georgian government.

Bokeria pointed to the protection of an Ivanishvili associate, Otar Partskhaladze, from US sanctions as evidence of the government’s alignment with Russia. The US Treasury Department has punished Partskhaladze, a former Georgian chief prosecutor, for allegedly promoting Russian interests and assisting Russian intelligence services.

“This is a man very closely linked to our de facto ruler, oligarch (Bidzina Ivanishvili),” Bokeria said. “We know from his own confessions. When he was sanctioned, the entire Georgian government and state apparatus behaved shamefully, to accommodate him, to clean out his bank accounts, to buy him time (before) the sanctions could cause any inconvenience. it.”

Utiashvili noted that not a single Russian spy has been arrested in Georgia in the past 12 years.

“There is no way you can believe that Russian intelligence is not working here. So no, there are (these) numerous examples that show that the Russians enjoy complete security,” he said.

However, security is not guaranteed for Georgia’s own security agents. In 2019, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was murdered in broad daylight in Berlin.

Khangoshvili, an ethnic Chechen, was a former Georgian security agent who joined the Chechen militants who fought against Russia in the First Chechen War, making him a target of Russian intelligence. While he later helped Georgian security services identify Islamists in the country, Georgian authorities failed to protect Khangoshvili, prompting him to leave the country.

“The government has not yet answered the question: why did it leave its own citizens defenseless against the Russians?” said Utiashvili.

The Georgian government remained silent after Khangoshvili’s death and never raised the issue publicly. In a recent prisoner swap, Russian President Vladimir Putin went to great lengths to secure the release of Khangoshvili’s killer, Vadim Krasikov.

“We know how important it was for Vladimir Putin to release Khangoshvili’s killer,” Utiashvili said. “He let go of virtually most of the high-level political prisoners in exchange for the killer. That gives you an idea of ​​how highly planned this murder was and how important it was for the Russian regime.”

Referring to Georgian authorities, Utiashvili added: “If you force such a citizen to go, it means you don’t want to intervene. You just don’t want this to happen on your territory. But you’re essentially signing a death warrant.”

Kakhaber Kemoklidze, a former official of the Georgian security service under the Georgian Dream government, blamed Georgia’s political leadership for failing to counter Russian influence, which, he said, reaches into the high ranks of the government has penetrated.

“They are actually implementing the objectives of the Russian intelligence services,” he told VOA.

The influx of Russian emigrants to Georgia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has only increased the espionage risk.

“There could be a large-scale infiltration within different segments of Georgian society or companies,” Kemoklidze said.

Western countries, including the United States, have spent millions to help Georgia defend itself against Russian hybrid tactics, including espionage and hacking, and secure its information space. In 2020, NATO, funded by the United Kingdom, launched a project aimed at countering Russian hybrid threats in Georgia.

However, if New lines magazine reported in May that the Georgian government abused this initiative to spread anti-Western messages and target critics on social media.

The surveillance team at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said this abuse led to the removal of fake accounts linked to the Georgian government.

“The Western governments, the Americans, the British and the Europeans helped the Georgian government to become resilient in the fight against enemy propaganda and all disinformation,” Utiashvili said.

“However, the units set up in the Georgian government with the help of donor money were not used to combat Russian propaganda, but to strengthen it, because Georgian Dream and Russia are once again sharing their propaganda resources in Georgia.”

From protecting Russian allies to failing to protect its own operatives and using Western funds to spread Russian narratives, the Georgian government is helping Moscow achieve its strategic objectives, analysts say.

“High-level Russian intelligence officials would be very happy to see what the current Georgian government is doing,” said former Georgian security service official Kemoklidze.

According to Bokeria of the opposition Federalists party, Russia’s goal is to ensure that Georgia and other neighboring countries remain under Kremlin control.

“For Russia, a successful state on its borders means becoming part of the free world, regardless of the expansion of NATO or the EU,” he said. “And that is unacceptable to them.”