Georgians are not Muslim but are Rus Orthodox; they are blood cousins to the Chechens, however. I don't know about blood cousins, but the reason why they let the Georgians out, is because Georgia aids chechen terrorists (or at least Russia accuses them of this).I don't think this ("Rus Orthodox") is true: Georgian church, while Eastern Orthodox, is not subordinate/related to Moscow, and is more ancient than Russian.
Yep, not "Russian" Orthodox. Georgia supported the Chechens, for nationalistic reasons. But with the Second Chechen War, it became growingly religious and Wahhabist with the ulterior purpose of using the Chechens to disrupt and deter investment in petroleum production in the area - in the interest of Saudi and Iran.
Things changed after 9/11.