“Protest and Controversy in Georgia as Lavrov’s Daughter Attempts to Attend Wedding”

“I finally received confirmation from the Minister of the Interior that the family, the people who planned to pay the other side of the wedding today, have left, so the wedding will not take place. It is a victory for society,” said the Georgian president.

She described as unacceptable the situation when officials and institutions responsible for national security say that they have no information that persons on the sanctions lists of partner countries are on the territory of Georgia.

Georgian media previously announced that Lavrov’s daughter Yekaterina Vinokurova and her husband, businessman Alexander Vinokurov, who are subject to Western sanctions, have arrived in the country. They wanted to visit Vinokurov for his brother’s wedding.

The marriage ceremony took place in Tbilisi, but a celebration and reception was planned for Saturday evening in Kakheti.

The administration of the “Kvareli Lake Resort” hotel denied that Lavrov’s daughter was staying there, although journalists, posing as flower suppliers, managed to find out that she was still in the hotel.

On Saturday morning, a protest action began near the hotel complex, and even clashes broke out between the demonstrators and the police and special forces. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia confirmed that 16 people have been detained.

In a similar case, journalist Vladimir Pozner, who had come to Georgia to celebrate his birthday, left Tbilisi two years ago, but this caused protests.

On the other hand, in 2019, widespread protests in Georgia were caused by the arrival of Russian State Duma deputy Sergey Gavrilov in the country. After that, Russia suspended air traffic with Georgia for less than four years, which was restored by a decree of Vladimir Putin issued on May 15.

The President of Georgia also announced on Saturday that she will not use the services of “Georgian Airways” because it has already started flights to Russia.

“I invite you all to join the boycott,” Zurabishvili addressed the Georgian population.

On the night of Saturday, the Georgian Airways office building in Tbilisi was pelted with eggs, and on Saturday evening a new protest action is expected in front of the parliament against the resumption of air traffic with Russia.