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Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office registered more than 200 drug-related crimes involving Russian citizens in the first nine months of 2026, after the country tightened drug laws in 2025. One Russian emigrant, musician Masha Ova, is serving a two-year sentence after a marijuana case that her friend and lawyer say involved a dispute over the amount seized and allegations of aiding distribution.
Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office registered more than 200 drug-related crimes involving Russian citizens in the first nine months of 2026, according to a Meduza report, after the country tightened drug laws in 2025. Among those affected is Russian emigrant Masha Ova, who is serving a two-year prison sentence in Rustavi after a marijuana case her friend and lawyer say involved allegations of aiding distribution.
Ova moved to Georgia in 2023 after leaving Russia for India in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She worked at a tattoo studio in Tbilisi and performed with several rock bands. In early May 2026, she disappeared from friends’ view; a court-appointed lawyer later told one of them that she had been detained. Her friend Kristina, whose name Meduza said was changed, said police searched Ova’s apartment and found marijuana.
Kristina said Ova acted as a “helper” by buying cannabis for friends and taking a cut, but was not a dealer. She said Ova admitted guilt soon after her arrest. Ova’s lawyer, David Lagadze, told Meduza that Ova maintains police found four grams of marijuana, rather than the 9.5 grams recorded in the case file. Lagadze said officers also seized scales with traces of narcotic substances. According to the lawyer, Ova chose not to challenge the recorded amount because she feared worsening her position.
Meduza reported that Ova is serving a two-year sentence. The report did not provide the full court judgment or an independent account of the evidence. Lagadze said that, in cases like hers, Georgian courts find people guilty of aiding distribution regardless of the amount seized. That is his characterization of how the courts apply the law, not a finding independently established in the material provided.
How the New Penalties Raise the Stakes
The 2025 changes can expose people to prison terms for conduct involving marijuana that had previously carried less severe penalties, according to the report. That matters to residents and visitors alike: Meduza says the revised framework applies to both Georgian residents and foreigners, including Russian emigrants who may have assumed that cannabis use or possession carried limited legal risk.
The consequences are not limited to personal-use cases. The report says a new offense covering aiding distribution was introduced, while marijuana offenses involving larger amounts were moved under a criminal-code article with harsher penalties. How that provision is interpreted in individual cases can determine whether conduct described by a friend as helping acquaintances buy cannabis is treated as a serious criminal offense.
For people living abroad, the report also illustrates the gap between a drug’s visibility in public and its legal status. The source describes cannabis use as effectively allowed since 2018, but that did not mean every form of acquiring, possessing or supplying marijuana was free of legal consequences. The newer penalties make it particularly important not to infer current law from what appeared tolerated in the past.
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Georgia’s 2025 Drug-Law Changes
Georgia’s drug rules changed in two stages in 2025, according to Meduza. In April, amendments primarily tightened Article 45 of the Administrative Offenses Code, which covers small quantities of drugs, with exceptions including marijuana and certain substances without a small-quantity threshold. The changes increased penalties, made refusing a drug test punishable and expanded penalties involving the loss of rights.
In July, lawmakers removed Article 273(1), which had covered certain marijuana-related offenses involving large and especially large amounts, from the Criminal Code. The report says marijuana offenses were then handled under Article 260, which carries more severe penalties. It gives the current thresholds as up to five grams of dried marijuana or 10 grams raw for a small quantity; five to 70 grams dried or 10 to 140 grams raw is a large quantity. Amounts above those ranges are classed as especially large.
Under the previous Article 273(1), acquiring, possessing or transporting a large quantity could bring a fine, community service or up to two years in prison, the report says. Under the revised Article 260, the same conduct carries five to eight years in prison. The report also says the law was divided into four separate articles, including a new Article 260(4) on aiding distribution. Georgian authorities defended the broader changes by citing the alleged harms of hybrid cannabis strains. The Social Justice Center, a Georgian human rights organization, said the changes restored the possibility of prison sentences for possessing or growing large amounts for personal use.
““In such cases, Georgian courts already find a person guilty of aiding distribution, regardless of the amount of drugs seized from them.””
— David Lagadze, Ova’s lawyer, speaking to Meduza
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Disputed Evidence and Case Details
The precise evidence against Ova remains unclear from the material available. Her lawyer told Meduza that she disputes the 9.5-gram figure in the case file and says the amount found was four grams. The report does not include the full case file, the court’s reasoning or an account from prosecutors, so it is not possible here to assess how the court resolved that discrepancy or what evidence supported the aiding-distribution charge.
The figure of more than 200 concerns drug-related crimes registered by authorities involving Russian citizens during the first nine months of 2026. The report does not specify how many people were charged or convicted, what substances were involved, how many cases concerned marijuana, or how many defendants received prison sentences. It also does not establish that all those cases arose under the 2025 amendments.
The source says the revised law applies to residents and visitors, but does not provide detailed guidance on how each provision applies across different circumstances. It also does not identify the total number of Russian citizens currently serving sentences in Georgia for drug offenses.
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Court Cases Under the Revised Rules
The next developments will depend on how Georgian authorities and courts handle cases under the revised Criminal Code, including charges of aiding distribution. Further court records or official statements could clarify the evidence in Ova’s case, the reasoning behind her sentence and whether the disputed amount affected the outcome.
Readers should treat the reported crime count as a snapshot for January through September 2026, not a final annual total. The report provides no later tally or schedule for additional official figures. Anyone in Georgia should check current Georgian law and seek qualified legal advice rather than rely on assumptions based on cannabis use being visible or previously treated more leniently.
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Key Questions
Why are Russian emigrants facing drug cases in Georgia?
Meduza reports that Georgia tightened drug laws in 2025 and that its Prosecutor General’s Office registered more than 200 drug-related crimes involving Russian citizens in the first nine months of 2026. The source does not say all of those cases involved marijuana or resulted in convictions.
What happened to Masha Ova?
Ova, a Russian emigrant and musician in Tbilisi, is serving a two-year sentence, according to Meduza. Her friend and lawyer say the case involved marijuana and an aiding-distribution allegation; the full judgment and prosecution account were not included in the material provided.
How much marijuana did police find in Ova’s case?
There is a dispute. Ova’s lawyer told Meduza she says police found four grams, while the case file reportedly recorded 9.5 grams. The report does not provide the underlying records to independently resolve the difference.
What changed in Georgia’s drug laws in 2025?
According to Meduza, changes in April tightened rules for small quantities of drugs, while July changes moved marijuana offenses involving larger amounts under Criminal Code Article 260, which carries harsher penalties. The amendments also created an article addressing aiding distribution.
Source: rss
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