A campaign of fakes was launched on social media after the incident with tourists in Telavi.
AI-generated images featuring Mikhail Saakashvili and Georgy Chigladze, a participant in the incident with tourists in Kakheti, have spread online, noted the fact-checking portal "Myth Detector."
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Georgy Chigladze, who hit a Russian-speaking tourist in Telavi, risks receiving a fine or a suspended sentence, as the motive for the conflict on national grounds is difficult to prove, according to lawyers.
Social media reacted strongly to the beating of a Russian-speaking tourist with citizenship of Russia and Turkey by Georgian resident Georgy Chigladze. Georgian police stated that Chigladze attacked the tourist due to an insult directed at wedding participants. The victim's friend claims that the conflict arose because of the Russian language. A march took place in Tbilisi, where participants expressed support for Chigladze. The court in Telavi released Chigladze on bail. In court, he stated that he regrets what happened. The victim herself stated that they did not provoke the wedding participants.
On July 22, one Facebook* user shared two photos, one of which shows former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili awarding Georgy Chigladze, a participant in the incident on July 18 at a hotel in Telavi. The other photo features Georgy Chigladze himself. The author of the post wrote in the comments that, in his opinion, the incident at the hotel was a staged provocation, reports the fact-checking project "Myth Detector."
According to the project, the photos published by the user on Facebook* were created by artificial intelligence and do not reflect a real event, as evidenced by visual inconsistencies and flaws typical of AI-generated images. AI recognition tools also identified the images as generated.
In particular, the coat of arms depicted in the joint photo of Mikhail Saakashvili and Georgy Chigladze lacks the motto "Strength in Unity." Instead, randomly arranged letters form meaningless words - a common flaw in AI-generated photos. Additionally, the outlines of the bodies in both photos are unnatural. In one photo, Mikhail Saakashvili's hand is not fully depicted, while in the other, the skin on Georgy Chigladze's forehead and neck looks unnatural, and his hair blends with the background.
As additional evidence, "Myth Detector" used AI detection tools. According to these tools, the probability that the photo of Mikhail Saakashvili and Georgy Chigladze was generated by AI is between 80% and 98.8%.
"The Media Development Foundation established the fact-checking portal "Myth Detector" in 2014. The goal of "Myth Detector" is to identify false information, expose hidden motives, and educate the audience about the harmful effects of misinformation through fact-checking and media literacy enhancement. Since September 2020, the project has been collaborating with Facebook to fact-check false and misleading information as part of an independent fact-checking program. The portal studies and evaluates the accuracy of content disseminated on the social network to improve the quality of information," the project's website states.
The third president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili has been in custody since October 2021. On March 12, 2025, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced him to nine years in prison for embezzlement of budget funds, charges brought back in 2014. In the case of illegal border crossing, the court sentenced Saakashvili to 4.5 years in prison.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the investigation, according to one of the participants in the incident that occurred in the hotel room in Telavi, confirmed that the girls did not splash water on the wedding guests, did not insult them, and did not damage the equipment.