A nonexistent legion? Why Georgian volunteers found themselves at the center of a scandal over donations.

“We believed they were good people”

With the onset of the large-scale war, an online community called NAFO emerged on platform X, aimed at countering Russian propaganda. The group's name is a play on NATO, meaning “North Atlantic Organization of Dudes.” It is recognizable due to the illustrations of Shiba Inu dogs dressed in military or sports attire.

The artist Kama, who initially created dog drawings for fun, began doing so in exchange for donations to the “Georgian Legion” in May 2022. However, by the fall of 2024, the situation changed — users on platform X started complaining about the lack of transparency in the fundraising.

For instance, Dmyko Zhluktenko called for people not to donate to the “Georgian Legion”: “There is zero financial transparency regarding where the donations went. They block those who ask questions. They had time to rectify the situation, but they did not”. This post garnered over 430 thousand views.

Due to such complaints, NAFO urged its 120-thousand audience not to donate to the “Georgian Legion” until clarifications regarding the situation are provided. The community added that they are unaware of what happened to the collected funds.

Additionally, in September, an article by British journalist Jay Beecher emerged, in which the author accused Mamuka Mamulashvili, who calls himself the commander of the “Georgian Legion,” of lying.

What did Beecher say, and should we believe him?

Until 2016, Jay Beecher was a member of the British party UKIP, which he later accused of racism and corruption. In response, the party claimed that he was expelled due to slander.

In 2021, Beecher's name was mentioned in connection with the trial of entrepreneur Ghislaine Maxwell: local tabloids accused him of justifying a woman who was found guilty of human trafficking by the court.

Beecher found himself in Ukraine after the start of the large-scale war. In 2022, he worked as a freelancer for the Kyiv Post for several months until their collaboration was terminated.

In April 2024, Beecher launched a website called Ukraine Today, without registering it as a media outlet. In September, he began publishing materials on this resource with accusations against the “Georgian Legion.”

In short, the Brit claimed that Mamuka Mamulashvili lied about poisoning and did not provide reports when he raised 20 thousand euros for treatment. He also questioned the necessity of Mamulashvili's medical assistance in the USA, as noted in the legion. Moreover, he spoke about Mamuka's alleged involvement with an organization established in the USA, which also includes accused fraudster Richard Sharp.

On November 8, Beecher posted on platform X that his life was in danger. According to him, representatives of the “Georgian Legion” came to his home to intimidate him. However, Beecher stated that he was not home, so the men contacted his girlfriend instead.

Beecher told hromadske that his girlfriend did not call the police because “she was frightened.” He himself did not file any statements with law enforcement either.

In response to the accusations, Mamuka Mamulashvili stated that the Brit is a “Russian agent.” According to him, Beecher is part of an organized campaign against the “Georgian Legion,” as his materials have been cited by Russian propagandists and pro-government Georgian media.

“The SBU is conducting a pre-trial investigation. Law enforcement officials say this was a targeted attack on several Ukrainian units before the elections in the USA. Additionally, we are constantly recruiting people from Georgia. To stop this, they wanted to discredit us in this country”, Mamulashvili said in a comment to hromadske.

We reached out to the SBU, but they could neither confirm nor deny Mamulashvili's claims about an open investigation.

Regarding the allegations of intimidating Jay Beecher, Mamulashvili stated: “If something like this happened, the law enforcement will call us and we will respond. Beecher has slandered the entire unit. We will go to court regarding the defamation (by Beecher — ed.), but first, we are waiting for the authorities to sort it out”.

Mamuka did not specify which authorities he was referring to and what they should clarify.

What’s wrong with the “Georgian Legion”?

When the “Georgian Legion” announced its withdrawal from the 54th Brigade in 2018, the Armed Forces of Ukraine responded that there was no separate unit by that name; instead, foreign volunteers served in various units of the brigade.

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, as Mamuka claims, the “Georgian Legion” was part of the Main Intelligence Directorate. However, the GUR informed us that the legion has never existed as a separate entity within the intelligence.

Now, according to Mamuka, the “Georgian Legion” is part of the Special Operations Forces, which are part of the Ground Forces. At the same time, the command of the Ground Forces stated that the legion does not belong to their structure.

To clarify the accusations of lack of transparency, hromadske asked representatives of the “Georgian Legion” to provide procurement documents for the donations received, but the equipment, first-aid kits, and gear in the acceptance acts were directed from the NGO “Georgian National Legion” to various military units.

This suggests that the “Georgian Legion” as a separate combat unit simply does not exist, and the fighters who call themselves its members serve in various divisions. However, they do not disclose which ones.

So, what’s the situation with the fundraising?

Mamuka explained that the public organization “Georgian National Legion” (of which he is a co-founder) was created to “assist its military branches, without charitable foundations and other intermediaries.”

Thus, funds were collected in accounts in Georgian and Ukrainian banks, as well as on the Buy me a coffee platform. Additionally, on a personal account PayPal of Taras Reshetylo, who previously managed the social media of the “Georgian Legion.”

Users on platform X also raised questions about him. According to his acquaintances, Taras Reshetylo has been in the USA for over a year. The “Georgian Legion” did not explain on what grounds he left Ukraine during the war. Mamulashvili noted that Taras has health issues. However, as recently as August, the “Georgian Legion” stated that Reshetylo's trip to the USA “had a specific purpose — to help save more fighters at the front.”

Mamuka insists that Taras transferred the funds received on PayPal to the “Georgian Legion,” but there is no publicly available reporting on this or other accounts where funds were collected.

When asked about the lack of transparency on the website and social media of the “Georgian Legion,” as well as the suspicions from users on platform X, Mamulashvili replied: “When 10 Russian bots ask to show reports, who should we do it for?”

According to him, the “Georgian Legion” does not have the resources and personnel to provide reports in the format that Azov does. They do not publish acceptance acts for security reasons.

By the way, since June, the police have been investigating the poisoning of Mamulashvili, which he claims occurred in the winter, but it is unclear where and how. He provided law enforcement with documents indicating elevated levels of arsenic, mercury, and lead in his system.

Regarding the 20 thousand euros allegedly raised for rehabilitation after the poisoning, Mamuka stated that he did not spend this money on himself: “My friends raised this. I warned right away that we wouldn’t spend the money on health. We bought drones with it, that was agreed upon”. This was confirmed on platform X by those who joined the fundraising.

Mamuka also stated that he has no connection to the organization “Georgian Humanitarian Legion,” which was established in the USA.

“They included my sister's name in the screenshots because she is an opposition deputy in Georgia, and mine. I see traces of Georgia in this. Such an organization does not exist. If it did, what would it have done?”, Mamulashvili noted.

However, an organization with that name is listed by the American Internal Revenue Service. Thus