The opposition claims Saturday’s election was stolen – but the pro-Kremlin Georgian Dream party did win over more voters than expected

After the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party run by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili secured a parliamentary majority in Saturday’s Georgian election, the reaction from Moscow was jubilant. “Georgians have won. Attaboys!” wrote Margarita Simonyan, head of Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, on X.

Meanwhile, a devastated friend texted me Sunday morning to say they felt as if they “woke up in Russia”.

Natalia Antelava is the CEO and editor-in-chief of codastory.com