Saakashvili supporters march against Ukrainian president

Supporters of former Georgian president-turned-Ukrainian opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili march in the centre of Kiev one week after he was deported to Poland.

Supporters of Ukrainian opposition figure and Georgian former President Mikheil Saakashvili hold a rally against Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev, Ukraine on February 18, 2018.
Reuters

Supporters of Ukrainian opposition figure and Georgian former President Mikheil Saakashvili hold a rally against Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev, Ukraine on February 18, 2018.

Several thousand supporters of deported Ukrainian opposition figure Mikheil Saakashvili marched through the centre of Kiev on Sunday, demanding the resignation of President Petro Poroshenko.

The protest included a nationalist faction, and some of its members broke windows at two Russian-owned banks and a Russian overseas agency after the march.

Saakashvili, who was Georgia's president during 2004-2013, later became governor of Ukraine's Odessa region after being granted citizenship by Poroshenko, who was at that time his close ally. 

But his Ukrainian citizenship was stripped away from him last year after he resigned following a dispute with Poroshenko.

Saakashvili was abroad when he lost Ukrainian citizenship, but forced his way back into the country in September.

Having also lost his Georgian citizenship before coming to Ukraine, Saakashvili is now a man without a country. 

He is wanted in Georgia to face abuse of power charges.

On Monday, he was detained at a Kiev restaurant and deported to Poland.

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