Born in Tbilisi, then-Soviet Georgia, Kobaladze served in the Soviet military from 1987 to 1989. In 1991 he volunteered in the National Guard of Georgia, with which he took part in the conflicts in post-Soviet Georgia. Kobaladze took an active part in the War in Abkhazia and was one of the senior commanders. During one of the battles he was severely wounded near Gagra. Kobaladze received nine bullets to the chest and survived but never managed to fully recover.