The 2009 Georgian mutiny was a mutiny by a Georgian Army tank battalion based in Mukhrovani, Georgia, east of the capital Tbilisi on 5 May 2009. It is not yet known how many soldiers took part. Later that day, the Georgian Ministry of Interior announced that the mutineers had surrendered. Some of its leaders, including the battalion's commander, were arrested; others managed to escape. The mutiny broke out after the government announced that it had uncovered what it claimed was a Russian-backed plot to destabilize Georgia and assassinate President Mikheil Saakashvili. Later, Georgian authorities retracted their accusations of an assassination plot and allegations of Russian support. Background Georgia has been affected by unrest since the 2008 South Ossetia war. Since April 2009, protests have called for the resignation of the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. In March, nine members of the political party Democratic Movement – United Georgia were arrested after allegedly purchasing automatic weapons ahead of more anti-government demonstrations, a claim described by its leader as "absurd". Several senior government figures recently defected to the opposition, claiming Saakashvili started an unwinnable war that left the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia further in Russian control. In May 2009, Russia decided to take control of South Ossetia's border with Georgia. The mutiny took place a day before the planned NATO exercises in Georgia. NATO drills were condemned by Russia, which referred to them as an "attempt to cheer up the Saakashvili regime". The mutiny The mutiny erupted on the morning of 5 May, after a Georgian Army tank battalion stationed in Mukhrovani, from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, began to disobey orders. According to the mutineers statement, circulated by local media, they were not planning any military action, and urging for dialogue between the government and the opposition during ongoing political crisis. Colonel Mamuka Gorgishvili, commander of the Mukhrovani Tank Battalion, stated: "Watching the country being torn apart by the current standoff is unbearable. There is a possibility of this standoff turning violent". Police then barred reporters from approaching the base. According to the Minister of Defense, Vasil Sikharulidze, the plotters' minimum goal was to undermine the NATO military exercises beginning in May 2009. Sikharulidze also mentioned to the Rustavi 2 television that the rebellion was also "an attempt of a military coup." In response to the mutiny, the Georgian Army deployed troops, military police, helicopters, and 30 tanks and