General: Approx. 100 former Georgian servicemen fighting for Kyiv "for free"

11:30, 21.01.2015 1 min read

About a hundred former Georgian servicemen have volunteered to fight for Kyiv in eastern Ukraine, former chairman of Georgian Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Giorgi Kalandadze told the Rustavi 2 television station from Kyiv.

"Our compatriots are actively engaged in operations of special units of the Ukrainian army," Kalandadze said.

He emphasized that the Georgians fighting for the Ukrainian army did not receive any remuneration but were financially supported by their families and friends from Georgia.

As to his return home, the general said he would not do so for now as the Georgian prosecution service intended to bring criminal charges against him and had questioned about a hundred witnesses to that end.

The body of former Georgian serviceman Tamaz Sukhiashvili, who had twice gone on mission in Afghanistan within NATO forces, was due to be brought to Tbilisi from Kyiv in the early morning of Thursday. Sukhiashvili was killed in the Donetsk airport fighting several days ago. This is the second Georgian serviceman killed in Ukraine. A number of Georgians have been injured.