A scandal involving a Russian citizen has erupted in Georgia. On the grounds of the Monolith Green City residential complex in Tbilisi’s Ortachala district, an intoxicated Russian-speaking man urinated directly from a balcony onto visitors to a café located below. Eyewitness Teona Golodze reported the incident on social media and posted a video recording of it on TikTok. Later, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced the Russian to 15 days of administrative detention for disorderly conduct, UNN reports, citing "News of Georgia" and TV Pirveli.
What happened?
According to Golodze, the incident occurred on the grounds of the Monolith Green City residential complex in Tbilisi’s Ortachala district. When the people sitting below began recording what was happening on their phones and telling him off, the troublemaker responded by shouting "Glory to Russia."
The visitors immediately called the police. The footage shows the intoxicated man, already in the courtyard in the presence of police, trying to justify his behavior with an unusual argument—he claimed he had acted that way because "the bathroom was occupied." At the same time, he complained that the café had supposedly placed chairs and tables downstairs "illegally."
Meanwhile, Golodze noted, the detainee called acquaintances, asking for help and assuring them that his problems with the police had arisen solely because of the slogan "Glory to Russia."
Although the act of urinating itself was not captured on video, Golodze’s account is generally corroborated by the participants’ conversations.
According to the video’s author, the offender was detained administratively. She said that after the court proceedings, he would be deported from the country.
What do Georgian law enforcement authorities say?
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed to TV Pirveli that a Russian citizen had been detained administratively.
Proceedings are being conducted under Articles 166 (petty hooliganism) and 171 of Georgia’s Code of Administrative Offenses. The latter article covers acts that offend human dignity and public morality in public places, as well as blatant disrespect for accepted standards of conduct that creates a humiliating or offensive environment (including relieving physiological needs in public places).
What did the Georgian court decide?
The Tbilisi City Court sentenced Russian citizen Alexander Popov to 15 days of administrative detention for urinating from a balcony, while intoxicated, onto café visitors.
The man was found guilty of petty hooliganism and acts that offend human dignity and public morality (Articles 166 and 171 of Georgia’s Code of Administrative Offenses). According to reports, Popov fully admitted his guilt at the hearing.
"I regret what I did, and, of course, it will never happen again," the Russian said.
According to the ruling, immediately after the end of the troublemaker’s detention, he will be deported from the country and barred from entering Georgia for three years.
The incident occurred on the grounds of the Monolith Green City residential complex in Tbilisi’s Ortachala district. Eyewitness Teona Golodze posted a video of the incident on TikTok. The footage captures the troublemaker shouting "Glory to Russia" at people in response to their remarks.
The detainee tried to justify his actions to police officers by saying that "the bathroom was occupied" in the apartment, while the café itself had supposedly installed tables in the courtyard "illegally."
Context
In July, a serious conflict occurred at the Agarani Estate hotel in Kakheti between participants in a Georgian wedding and Russian-speaking female tourists, as a result of which the groom’s brother struck one of them in the eye.
Initially, the sides presented radically different versions: the tourists claimed they had been attacked because they were speaking Russian, while Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the women themselves had provoked the guests—they had shouted insults from the balcony and doused the musical equipment with water. Information circulated on social media that the wedding had been doused from the balcony not with water but with urine; however, official sources did not confirm this.
Both incidents have added fuel to the already heated debate over attitudes toward Russians in Georgia—a country whose two regions are under Russian occupation. While the government’s opponents are demanding tougher action to stop provocations, representatives of the ruling "Georgian Dream" party warn of the danger of "manifestations of Russophobia."