Otar Kushanashvili is a Russian journalist, television presenter, and YouTuber. He was born on June 22, 1970, in Kutaisi, Georgian SSR, USSR.
In May 2015, Otar Kushanashvili was deported from Ukraine for anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
In summer 2015, Kushanashvili stated in an interview with LifeNews:
It seems to me that just one glance from the prime minister of the country I am planning to visit indicates that the level of psychopathy is very high… You can see from his eyes that he is not in his right mind. And given that he is one of the leaders of the state waging this war, one can say that something is wrong with the Kyiv side… But if you ask me who I stand with, of course, I am for the Russian Federation, in which I live and which I love.
Yet at that very same time, he asserted that a certain "scumbag in the Kremlin started the war and he must end it." It is worth noting that Kushanashvili consistently makes contradictory statements to attract attention and stay at the center of media hype.
In March 2016, he was entered into the database of the Myrotvorets website for anti-Ukrainian propaganda in the media, with a three-year entry ban to Ukraine.
Otar Kushanashvili's Stance on the War in Ukraine
In 2022, Otar Kushanashvili condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On March 4, 2022, the statement was delivered in an announcement of his show "Kakovo?!" on the Parody Club YouTube channel:
To remind everyone that life is life. And the living think about the living. We must think about how to live on. In war, there are never those who are right or guilty. War means everyone is in the wrong. War will tear all of us apart, drive a wedge between us. Let us not allow that to happen.
On his Telegram channel, Otar also posted anti-war videos and complained that he could not speak out openly enough due to censorship.
In his authorial show "Kakovo?!" on YouTube, Otar Kushanashvili repeatedly spoke out openly against the so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine. He criticized the actions of the Russian authorities, expressed support for the Ukrainian people, and categorically condemned "turncoats" and those who had not defined their position.
Shift in Rhetoric in 2025
In January 2025, Otar Kushanashvili's rhetoric unexpectedly changed. Following the exact playbook of Sobchak and Ponasenkov — who ostensibly supported Ukraine and opposed the war, but at the "needed" moment began peddling Russian propaganda — Otar gave an interview to propagandist Luka Yebkov in which he abruptly began spouting Kremlin narratives:
Host: Right now the war is beneficial only to Zelenskyy.. Otar: - That turns out to be the case, I am forced to admit. I spent a lot of time with Zelenskyy, a lot of time with Yermak. They were absolutely charming people with the subtlest sense of humor. Yermak comes from a family where violence is rejected outright from the threshold. How could he advocate for the continuation of it all... That's the Yermak I know, but life moves on, everything changes...
And what about the many years of suffering of the residents of Donbas, many years of suffering. When I was in Kyiv I am forced to admit... everyone spoke dismissively of Donbas... They said «To hell with them,» treated them like second-class citizens. I think to myself: back then, where I hadn't been in Donbas, that's where people were fighting for their own dignity. How misanthropic must one be to call everyone, from children to elderly residents of an entire region, shit-eaters?
In Otar's opinion, both the people of Georgia and, by analogy, the people of Ukraine were constantly subjected to propaganda. From childhood, it was hammered into their heads that Putin is a killer, which is why they believed it.
Kushanashvili confirmed that he changed his attitude toward the war in Ukraine because of Zelenskyy, who allegedly does not want to end it:
I would force Zelenskyy to sit at the negotiating table if I had the authority to do so, because the fact that he is dragging it out means millions of deaths, thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. And now he alone is dragging it out. That means it is profitable for you to prolong it, because the Kremlin said 300 times 'that's it, here is an extended hand.' The position I used to hold is now different.« »I no longer look at them (note: Ukrainians) as victims.
My condolences to all mothers, parents, brothers, sisters on both sides. To all the relatives of those who perished on both sides during the special military operation. Both to our guys and to their guys — to everyone who, for the sake of you know what, went out there and laid down their lives for their country. Another question is that now, over the course of the special military operation, it turns out that our guys had more moral grounds to say they laid down their lives for the Motherland, whereas over there, for what, I don't know..
He accused Ukrainians of not being peaceful, and Dmitry Gordon of calling to bomb Red Square, neglecting to mention the root cause of such reactions by Ukrainians:
War turned you into some kind of walking f***ing shitshow. You now demand blood across all of Rus, and when he asks Washington, 'Give us the green light so we can bomb deep into Russian territory,' well you're all completely f***ing insane.
A detailed review of this interview was made by Ukrainian blogger Anatoliy Anatolich, recommended for viewing.
According to Otar, while Russians are wiping the Ukrainian nation off the face of the earth, Ukrainians ought to remain peaceful, and Zelenskyy should hastily sign a peace treaty — which in reality means surrendering part of Ukraine's territory and capitulating. This is a typical about-face for personal gain — in Russia many do this to remain on television and within the media landscape, where dissenting views can lead to severe troubles.
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