Irakli Okruashvili

Irakli Okruashvili
Chairman of Victorious Georgia
Incumbent
Assumed office June 2019
Preceded by	position established
Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development
In office 10 November 2006 – 17 November 2006
Preceded by	Irakli Chogovadze
Succeeded by	Giorgi Arveladze
Minister of Defense of Georgia
In office 17 December 2004 – 10 November 2006
Preceded by	Giorgi Baramidze
Succeeded by	Davit Kezerashvili
Minister of the Interior of Georgia
In office 7 June 2004 – 17 December 2004
Preceded by	Giorgi Baramidze
Succeeded by	Ivane Merabishvili
Prosecutor General of Georgia
In office 14 January 2004 – 7 June 2004
Preceded by	Nugzar Gabrichidze
Succeeded by	Zurab Adeishvili
Governor of Shida Kartli
In office November 2003 – 14 January 2004
Member of the Tbilisi City Assembly
In office 2002 – November 2003
Deputy Minister of Justice
In office 2000–2001
Personal details
Born	(1973-11-06) 6 November 1973 (age 50) Tskhinvali, South Ossetian AO, Georgian SSR, USSR
Political party	Victorious Georgia (2019–present) Movement for United Georgia (2007–2010) United National Movement (until 2006)
Military service
Allegiance	Ukraine
Branch/service	International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine
Years of service	2022–present
Battles/wars	2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Irakli Okruashvili (Georgian: ირაკლი ოქრუაშვილი) (born 6 November 1973) is a Georgian politician who had served on various important posts in the Government of Georgia under President Mikheil Saakashvili, including being the Minister of Defense from December 2004 until being dismissed in November 2006.

In September 2007, Okruashvili staged a public comeback to Georgian politics, openly confronting Mikheil Saakashvili and creating the opposition party Movement for United Georgia. On September 27, 2007, Okruashvili was briefly arrested at his party headquarters on the charges of corruption, money laundering, and abuse of office.^[1] In 2007 he left Georgia and was granted political asylum in France. He was sentenced to 11-year prison term in Georgia in absentia in March 2008. In October 2010, he, remaining in France, joined Sozar Subari, Levan Gachechiladze and Erosi Kitsmarishvili in the new Georgian Party.^[2]

Okruashvili was sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly participating in group violence in anti-government rallies organized in June 2019.^[3] However, President Salome Zourabichvili pardoned him, alongside Gigi Ugulava, on May 15, 2020.^[4]

On March 8, 2022 the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence stated that Okruashvili had arrived in Ukraine, together with other Georgian volunteers, in order to fight against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[5]