On June 20, 2019, the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy was held in the plenary chamber of the Georgian Parliament. As part of the event, members of the Russian Duma were visiting Georgia. The session was set to be chaired by Russian deputy Sergei Gavrilov, who took the Speaker’s seat in Parliament.

This provoked outrage among opposition MPs, who entered the chamber, tore up Gavrilov’s papers, and occupied the Speaker’s chair, preventing him from continuing the session. As a result, the Russian delegation moved to the “Radisson Blu Iveria” hotel, where citizens gathered in protest. “Russia is an occupier,” “No to occupation,” “Down with Putin,” “Down with Gavrilov” — chanted protesters outside the hotel. Later, Gavrilov was escorted out of the building under police protection, while protesters blocked his path and threw water bottles and other objects at his car.

Gavrilov’s visit was also protested in Zugdidi under the slogan “Shame.” Civil activists held banners reading “Russia is an occupier,” “No to creeping occupation,” and “Georgia doesn’t need occupying pigs.”

Later that day, the Russian delegation left Georgia, but a massive protest took place on Rustaveli Avenue, in front of Parliament.

By 7:00 p.m., thousands of people had gathered unexpectedly. The opposition demanded the resignation of the Parliament Speaker, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the head of the State Security Service. Soon after, police forces appeared, and clashes broke out as protesters tried to enter Parliament. Around midnight, riot police began dispersing the crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets. Despite this, protesters kept returning to the area in waves.

That night — remembered in Georgian media as “Gavrilov’s Night” — 240 people were injured. Two protesters lost their eyes after being hit by rubber bullets. Following the incident, Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia became widely nicknamed “Tvaltukharia” (“Eye-Taker”). Rubber bullets also struck several journalists covering the protest. Over 300 people were arrested.

On June 21, the Speaker of Parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze, resigned, and MP Zakaria Kutsnashvili, who had initiated the assembly, renounced his parliamentary mandate.

However, the protests did not end there. They continued daily and became a permanent movement. Out of these protests emerged the “Shame” movement (“Sirtskhviliya”), which became one of the most significant civic initiatives in Georgia’s recent history.

The key question — “Who ordered the police to fire rubber bullets at protesters?” — remains unanswered, even after Giorgi Gakharia left the government and founded his own opposition party. He continued to insist that he took full responsibility for that night, though many in society did not believe him.