DISINFO: US is preparing a Maidan in Georgia
SUMMARY
The US does not want a clergyman who received a spiritual education in Russia to be the Patriarch of Georgia. Reverend Shio, Patriarchal locum tenens, was poisoned with arsenic for the same purpose for which they wanted to poison Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II with potassium cyanide a few years ago.
In Georgia, the US is preparing a Maidan today, and the murder of the locum tenens, who enjoys huge influence among the flock, second after the Catholicos-Patriarch himself, should have served as a trigger. The goal is street protests, rallies, a coup d'état and the release of [Mikheil] Saakashvili.
RESPONSE
An unsubstantiated disinformation claim not backed up by evidence. This case also fits the recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about colour revolutions, portraying popular protests as Western-instigated coup d'état.
There is no evidence to claim that the US allegedly poisoned the Georgian Patriarchal locum tenens to prepare the ground for the Maidan in Georgia.
On 6th of July, the Georgian media reported that Reverend Shio, Patriarchal locum tenens, was poisoned and medical tests showed traces of arsenic in his blood. In its first comment, the head of the press office of the Patriarchate of Georgia stated they do not have the right to assert the version of poisoning without evidence, although it is not ruled out, "because the substance that was found in Reverend Shio's blood, have been used for poisoning in some cases". Later, the press office added that they are waiting for the Reverend’s examination results from abroad.
Pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests and public discontent around the world as instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. The disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belarus, Venezuela, Slovakia, Hong Kong, with the aim of portraying protest movements as aggressive actors who constantly prepare new coups.
Similar disinformation narrative resurfaced during the March 2023 protests in Georgia against the Russian-style ‘Foreign Agents’ bill. Pro-Kremlin outlets have been extensively claiming that protests in Georgia are orchestrated from abroad, that The US behind protests in Georgia, that The protests in Georgia were organised by the United States, that The US intends to use Georgia to inflame conflicts near Russia, that Washington using Georgia to open a second front against Russia, that protests in Georgia are attempt to forcibly change power, resembling Euromaidan, that Western special services influence internal and external processes in Georgia, that the West is interfering in Georgian protests, that the West obstructs Georgia’s attempt to become an independent state, or that foreign agents in Georgia exploit naïve protesters for regime change.