Georgii Goglidze
Georgii Goglidze, born 1997, Occupied territory of Donetska oblast. Charges: Article 359 part 3, Russian Criminal Code; “Georgii Goglidze's case”. Sentence (April 8, 2025): 9 years' imprisonment in strict-regime penal colony. Status: imprisoned; deprived of liberty since June 6, 2025; place of detention: Pre-trial detention centre No. 1, Occupied territory of Donetska oblast. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, March 20, 2025.
In brief
Occupied territory of Donetska oblast · Military personnel
Sentence
9 years
imprisonment in strict-regime penal colony
No information about an appeal ruling.
Charges
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, in April 2023, "he arrived in Lviv region of Ukraine, where he underwent special military training, and then was sent to the temporarily occupied by the Ukrainian side territory of the city of Sloviansk in the DPR, where he took part in combat operations for a fee. During an attempt to move a group of mercenaries from the territory of the DPR to the territory of the LPR, there was a clash with Russian servicemen, as a result of which some mercenaries were eliminated and some, including Goglidze, were detained".
Latest event
June 6, 2025 — imprisonment begins
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, March 20, 2025
Timeline
· Imprisonment begins
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 9 years
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Persecution begins
Georgii Goglidze's case
Criminal case
Georgii Goglidze's case
Thematic group: The mercenarism case of citizens of Georgia
Write a letter
Facility: Pre-trial detention centre No. 1, Occupied territory of Donetska oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
283086, Респ. Донецкая Народная, г. Донецк, ул. Кобозева, д. 4, ФКУ СИЗО-1 ГУФСИН России по Донецкой Народной Республике, Гоглидзе Георгий Звиадович, 1997 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, he worked in Germany, then joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Supposedly, on 12 November 2023, he was taken captive near Kreminna in the Luhansk Region of Ukraine. On 14 November, a video was published in which Goglidze says in an unnatural voice that he was taught by American, German, French and Polish instructors in the training camp, and was promised $300 for each Russian soldier killed. A mercenary case was brought against him. On 9 April 2025, a court in the occupied territory of the Donetsk region of Ukraine sentenced Goglidze to nine years in a strict-regime penal colony.
Other people prosecuted under Article 359 part 3, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.