Background The Georgian Legion was founded by
Mamuka Mamulashvili, a veteran of the
Abkhaz–Georgian conflict,
First Chechen War, and the
Russo-Georgian War.
Founding The Georgian Legion was formed sometime in 2014 after the start of the
war in the Donbas with initially only 6 Georgian members and had grown to about 20 members by the end of that year. In mid December 2014 the group was visited by
Giorgi Baramidze, the then Georgian minister for European integration. In January 2015, the unit suffered its first casualty, Tamaz Sukhiashvili, a veteran of the Georgian Army. Involvement of individual Georgians on the Ukrainian side was, to a degree, encouraged by the then-Ukraine-based former
President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and his associates from Georgia's
United National Movement party. After the
Minsk II agreement of February 11, the future of the unit was briefly uncertain. In October the Ukrainian parliament passed a law allowing foreign nationals and stateless persons to be hired by the Ukrainian army on contract and the bill was signed into law on November 5. It fought in eastern Ukraine under the overall command of the
54th Mechanized Brigade. In December 2017, the Legion withdrew from the brigade citing the "incompetence" of the brigade's command after a costly operation conducted near
Svitlodarsk on 16 December 2017. The 54th Mechanized Brigade denied that a "Georgian Legion" had ever existed among their ranks. In January 2018 the Legion's commander Mamulashvili said the unit remained committed to the Ukrainian cause and moved to another brigade and added that the decision was not connected to a political conflict between Mikheil Saakashvili and
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. In February 2022, immediately prior to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Georgian Legion was involved in training newly recruited Ukrainian civilians. The unit took part in combat from the first days of the invasion; it fought in the
Battle of Antonov Airport and
Battle of Hostomel. The Legion was mainly part of the
Main Directorate of Intelligence during the early stages of the invasion, and part of the unit later joined the 1st Special Purpose Brigade. In early March 2022, the Georgian Legion reportedly had over 300 new interested recruits attempting to join. According to Legion policy, only experienced fighters or military veterans are allowed to join their ranks. People who didn't meet those requirements were refused. People with extremist views are also not welcome in the unit. The legion subsequently redeployed to help fend off the
Eastern Ukraine offensive. The Legion was integrated into the
Special Operations Forces' 4th Assault Center in 2024 followed by the
Ukrainian Volunteer Army on 14 December 2025. These include: • Alexander (Alika) Tsaava, Arkadi Kasradze and Zaza Bitsadze, who were killed in
Rubizhne. • Giorgi Grigolia, who was killed during fighting near
Bakhmut. • Kiril Shanava and Kakha Gogol, who were killed during fighting in
Luhansk Kakha Gogol was reportedly killed as a result of an airstrike. • Aluda Zviadauri, who was killed during fighting near
Lysychansk. • Davit (Dato) Gobejishvili, Davit Menabdishvili and Nikoloz (Nika) Shanava, who were killed fighting in
Izyum. • Rati Shurgaia, who died as a result of injuries sustained during fighting near
Izyum. ==Controversies==