Nana Tomaradze, the woman who broke through the special forces cordon, introduces herself to us as a person who is distanced from politics. More precisely, as someone who is not familiar with all political processes, but does not tolerate injustice.
Nana is an artist. Years ago she danced, now she paints. She has a small business — she makes handmade candles. She has an 11-year-old son.
“I am a worried mother. I really want my child to grow up in a good country,” she tells Aprili Media, recalling what happened on the night of December 3 on Rustaveli Avenue.
The shot, in which Nana kicks her way into a cordon of robocops and moves forward without stopping, has been featured not only in Georgian but also in world media, and has appeared in the stories of such famous actors and singers as Mandy Patinkin and Imany.
Nana’s anger became another symbol of protest, just like the woman with the EU flag and the girl jumping on the water jet from the 2023 protests and the girls from the 2024 protests — with the Georgian flag on the barricades and in front of the water jet.
Nana tells us that she was a victim of pedophilia as a child, which had a severe impact on her life. It was difficult for her family to be evicted from their apartment and lose their belongings. She is raising her child alone and rarely has the free time to catch up on all the current events.
She fought there for several months after the war began in Ukraine, which is why, as she says, she is wanted in Russia.
“I don’t want Georgians to forget the history we have with Russia. The war, the murders, so many people who died. I’m not going to forgive,” says Nana.
She rarely has free time and cannot attend all protests, but never misses important news. She went to the protest on Rustaveli in early December. The next day, she saw a policeman kicking a boy in the face while breaking up the protest, and how an elderly man was physically abused, and as she says, she became so angry that she no longer cared what would happen to her.
Based on all this, I went to support these people. If I had seen someone being abused there, I would have definitely intervened, as I have done and always will. This was the motivation and the reason why I was at this rally.
The form of her protest was described by government propaganda as aggression, violence, and an attack on special forces. Nana emphatically states that she is against all forms of violence, but after the large-scale violence that the police and special forces have committed against citizens, she does not feel guilty.
She goes to rallies alone. As she explains, when she is with others, she restricts himself and cannot fully express her emotions. She was alone that day, but she met many people on Rustaveli, sometimes while warming himself by the bonfire, sometimes while checking out various locations to see if there was any tension. That’s how she ended up with the special forces.
She partially remembers what she was saying to them before she entered the cordon. She wondered why they tired the people and repeated the phrase: “Are you afraid of me?”
She says she mixed up the words while being tense and stressed, and at that moment she meant people, not herself.
“In this ‘you’re afraid of me’, there was this idea that there were so many people standing behind me and they themselves were standing like this, wearing bulletproof vests or whatever they call them, and we were the people holding hands… In reality, we were telling them that there should be no war between us, that our future depends on us, and they were standing like this, defending themselves. From whom? From us?
When a person is patient, and wants to express their opinion, it just happened at that moment unplanned, absolutely unplanned. It was also an emotional background that led me to kick them, I hadn’t planned it. I wanted to express my opinion, I was pumped, and when I stepped in there, everything happened by itself.
We asked her if she was afraid when she herself rushed into the cordon with the special forces, with whom she had come to protest the brutal violence, knowing that they were the ones who abused people the most when they were arrested and dragged through the cordon.
“To put it bluntly, I did not care whether they would bleed me too or not, I had such a “blocked” feeling. I was ready for it. Because if everyone was afraid of being hit and hurt like that, then we would give up everything. At that moment I was ready. I’m not a masochist who enjoys pain or walks around with a broken nose. I don’t want to, but when a person watches so much violence…”
Here she interrupts the conversation and says that “she is not without faults” and that this form of protest “is in her character,” as she has been in solitary confinement before when she protested at clubs about the admission and improper treatment of underage girls.
After the release of Nana’s footage, all the participants of the rally were curious about what happened in the special forces cordon. She says that after that day her memory deteriorated and she has difficulty remembering details.
“I remember being very angry. I remember the moment when they immediately surrounded me. We were walking around, but I don’t remember if we were in the same car or if I changed cars.”
“There was no hitting, beating or anything like that, I’m not hiding anything, but there was nothing like that. They probably pulled me by the hair, because I have almost no hair in the back and my skull hurts. I don’t have any serious injuries.”
She doesn’t remember any verbal abuse, but she remembers that she told them everything she was thinking and feeling: “That’s why I stormed in a cordon to tell them everything.”
She does not think that she should have been arrested or punished, and in general, she does not share the opinion that the forms of citizen protest are aggressive.
“When people are being beaten up and people are in intensive care, do they deserve or don’t they deserve fireworks?”
She knew she would be punished for this behavior, but she still thinks the fine is unfounded. She thinks she did nothing wrong, especially compared to the behavior of the special forces.
If they have committed so many crimes themselves, then they should be punished. If they are punished accordingly, then I also say that I am guilty. But if they are not going to punish themselves for insulting people, why should they punish me for kicking them?
She does not have the resources to pay the fine and is afraid of losing her property a second time.
“How will I be able to pay? I’m an artist and I’ve recently started making candles at home. I haven’t even sold any yet. Of course, I’ll make something, but I can’t do it all in 3 days or 1 day. I’m not a magician, right?”
She is happy with the solidarity she has felt from the community. She says she could not have imagined that so many people would be proud of her actions.
“I’m so happy for this positivity and support, I’m really over the moon. I don’t think I realize it yet.”
“I’m grateful in every way that they were so worried about me — what is she doing, how is she? It’s given me another life, I’m telling you honestly.”
As she says, this support has helped her get through difficult experiences in the past. She emphasizes that the support of women was especially important to her.
“A huge thank you to my Georgian girls. I will always be with you, like a sister. I love loyalty and I love you very much, thank you for everything.”