KIEV (Sputnik) — Slobodyan said Saakashvili "illegally crossed the border" as he and his supporters did not pass through security checks.
"The crowd… broke through the Shegini checkpoint… in fact, one could say, invaded the territory of Poland, took Mikheil Saakashvili, started a fight with the border guards and dragged Saakashvili into the territory of Ukraine," Slobodyan told the UNIAN news agency.
ВАЖНО!
— Ray (@Ray_net_ua) 10 сентября 2017 г.
Саакашвили уже на территории Украины.
ВИДЕО pic.twitter.com/jjWg8nhFxW
Earlier in the day, Saakashvili, stripped of the Ukrainian citizenship in July, boarded a train heading from Poland to Ukraine. However, he was asked to get off the train while still in Poland. After that, he said he would enter the country by car.
Саакашвили с боем прорвался в Украинуhttps://t.co/heoX7Lv6LS pic.twitter.com/ZUVYBKpT3I
— Грани.Ру (@GraniTweet) 10 сентября 2017 г.
Saakashvili was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by President Petro Poroshenko in July on the pretext of violating the country's law. The former Georgian leader was in the United States at the time when Poroshenko made his decision and said he would file to appeal the decision of the Ukrainian President in court.
The Ukrainian Border Service said it will not allow the ex-governor to enter Ukraine if he attempts to cross the border. Despite that, Saakashvili vowed to return to the country along with thousands of supporters.
The former Georgian president was appointed the Odessa Region's governor in May 2015 and stripped of Georgian citizenship upon receiving his Ukrainian passport. He resigned in November 2016, accusing Ukrainian officials of a lack of interest in the fight against corruption.
