Chaos in Georgia: Protesters Attempt to Storm Presidential Palace – Fires, Barricades, and Tear Gas

Serious clashes erupted today, Saturday (04.10.2025), in Georgia on the sidelines of local elections, with dozens of protesters besieging the presidential palace and setting barricades on fire. Georgian police responded with tear gas against anti-government demonstrators and hardline protesters attempting to storm the presidential building in the capital, Tbilisi. Waving Georgian and EU flags, tens of thousands flooded Tbilisi’s Freedom Square, answering the opposition’s call for protests against the local elections. Armored police vehicles pushed back demonstrators who tried to breach the presidential palace minutes before polling stations closed, following calls by some opposition figures for a ‘peaceful revolution’ against the ruling ‘Georgian Dream’ party. The ‘Georgian Dream’ party, seen as pro-Russian, faces its first electoral challenge since winning parliamentary elections a year ago, which critics labeled rigged. Since then, Georgia’s pro-Western opposition has been organizing demonstrations.