Giorgi Kalandadze ( ka, გიორგი კალანდაძე) (born June 24, 1980) is a retired Georgian Brigadier General who was the Chief of Joint Staff of the

Georgian Armed Forces The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defence of the nation's indep ...

from October 8, 2012 to November 11, 2012.

Career

Kalandadze studied at the Cadets' Corps of the

Ministry of Defense of Georgia The Ministry of Defence of Georgia (, ''sakartvelos tavdatsvis saministro'') is the Georgia (country), Georgian government ministry in charge of the Defence Forces of Georgia and regulating activities in Defence (military), defence of the countr ...

from 1995 to 1997 and at the United Military Academy of the Ministry of Defense from 1997 to 2001. He received further training in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2005 and

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in 2007. From 2007 to 2009, he was the commander of the 4th Infantry Brigade, which suffered the heaviest casualties of all Georgian military units in the

2008 South Ossetia War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 2009 Kalandadze was promoted to the position of deputy commander of the

Georgian Land Forces The Georgian Land Forces ( ka, საქართველოს სახმელეთო ძალები) are the land force component of the Defense Forces of Georgia. They are the largest branch of the military and constitute the bulk o ...

and became first deputy chief of joint staff. Simultaneously, from 2010 to 2011, he served as acting commander of the land forces. In October 2012,

President of Georgia The president of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი, tr) is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U ...

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

appointed him Chief of Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces. The appointment came a week after Saakashvili's

United National Movement United National Movement (UNM; ka, ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა, tr) also colloquially known as the Natsebi is a liberal conservative political party in Georgia. Tina Bokuchava serves as the p ...

suffered defeat in the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

. Critics said Kalandadze's promotion was a "political decision". The Georgian media speculated that the appointment was likely to be reconsidered by the incoming government of the

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a Conservatism, conservative and populism, populist List of political parties in Georgia (country), political party in Georgia (country), Georgia, which has ...

coalition, which favored the candidacy of

Vakhtang Kapanadze Vakhtang Kapanadze ( ka, ვახტანგ კაპანაძე) (born 17 August 1960) is a Georgia (country), Georgian major general who was Chief of General Staff of Georgian Armed Forces, Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Fo ...

, a veteran officer and ex-Chief of the General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces (2004–2005).

Arrest and dismissal

In November 2012, Kalandadze was briefly arrested by Georgia's new government on criminal charges related to exceeding official powers in two separate cases and illegal confinement. He was released on bail and, despite President Saakashvili's support, was suspended from his office by the court on November 11, 2012. Saakashvili's UNM party claimed persecution of Kalandadze was politically motivated as the new Defense Minister "failed to replace him with his loyal figure". Due to these events, a planned

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Military Committee visit to Georgia was postponed and would not be held until February 2014. After his dismissal, Kalandadze left Georgia. In 2014, he volunteered to advise the

military of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

during the

War in Donbass The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when Russian paramilitaries seized several towns. Ukraine's military launched an operation ...

Awards

Kalandadze has been awarded by the government of Georgia the

Presidential Order of Excellence The Presidential Order of Excellence is an award given by the President of Georgia to individuals in culture, education, science, art, sport, and other fields, for significant achievements and meritorious service for Georgia. The award was esta ...

(2012), Vakhtang Gorgasali Order, 1st Rank (2010), Order of Honor (2010), and several Defense Ministry medals.Giorgi Kalandadze. Chief of the Joint Staff of Georgian Armed Forces
. Ministry of Defense of Georgia. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalandadze, Giorgi 1980 births Generals of the Defense Forces of Georgia People of the Russo-Georgian War Living people Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia) Pro-Ukrainian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine