Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described Mikheil Saakashvili being stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship as “tragicomedy” in a Facebook post on Thursday.
"The consistency of Ukranian authorities is surprising," Medvedev wrote. "First they gave the former Georgian president Ukrainian citizenship, made him governor, then stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship and agreed to extradite him to Georgia."
"All this shows the indisputable moral qualities of the two people playing out this fantastical tragicomedy,” he wrote, referring to Saakashvili and Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko.
Poroshenko signed a decree on Wednesday depriving Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship.
Saakashvili served two consecutive terms as Georgia’s president in 2008-2013. He then fled Georgia following allegations of corruption.
After positioning himself as an ardent supporter of the Euromaidan revolution, he became governor of the Odessa region in 2015 and was granted Ukrainian citizenship.
In November 2016, Saakashvili resigned from his post, blaming Poroshenko’s ruling party for enabling corruption in the region.
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