Supported by former Ukrainian leader Yulia Tymoshenko and others, Saakashvili has pushed his way from Poland into Ukraine in a bid to regain his citizenship. But he faces an extradition request from Georgia.
Image: Reuters/V. Ogirenko
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After a standoff, former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship in July in a falling out with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, walked towards hundreds of supporters at the border on Sunday, prompting an angry response from government officials.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced on Monday that Saakashvili is wanted on "serious" criminal charges for making an illegal border cross, saying he could face up to five years in prison.
Ukraine's premier, Volodymyr Groysman, said Saakashvili's crossing was "not simply a violation of the law," according to a statement published on Facebook.
"In my view, this is the beginning of another attack by some politicians against Ukrainian governance," Groysman said.
'My Ukrainian passport'
Thousands of Saakashvili's supporters gathered on the Ukrainian side of the border on Sunday, effectively pushing the former Georgian leader into Ukraine at the Medyka-Shehyni crossing, roughly 80 kilometers (50 milies) west of the Ukrainian city of Lviv.
"I came with my Ukrainian passport, I wanted to show my passport and make a statement," Saakashvili told supporters after crossing. Saakashvili reportedly met with Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi late Sunday night.
The former Georgian leader lost his Georgian citizenship in 2015 when he took up Poroshenko's offer to become governor of Ukraine's key Black Sea Odessa region. Tbilisi does not allow dual citizenship. Saakashvili claimed he has been recognized by UNHCR as a "stateless" person.
Ukrainian guards faced off against Saakashvili supportersImage: Getty Images/AFP/Y. Dyachyshyn
Wanted for abuse of power
In Ukraine, Saakashvili risks extradition to his native Georgia to face charges in Tbilisi of misappropriating property and abuse of office during his nine-year term as president.
While in Warsaw on Friday, Saakashvili asserted that Ukraine was witnessing a roll-back of reforms and efforts to stem corruption, reiterating that he wanted to get back into politics.
In Georgia between 2004 and 2013, Saakashvili has been credited with pushing through pro-Western and anti-graft reforms between 2004 and 2013. However, his administration fought brief wars with Russia, resulting in the loss of two regions that subsequently declared independence, namely Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Make love, not war: Ukrainian-Russian love overcoming conflict
The Ukraine-Russia conflict is increasingly polarizing people of both countries. But these couples are bridging the nationality gap and growing stronger together.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Lina & Vitya
My mom is Russian, my dad is Ukrainian. They met each other at Kharkov State University and have lived together for more than 50 years now. My parents gave me that sense of friendship between people traveling everywhere. I think it’s one of the key moments - to understand each other we need to communicate with different people and to educate ourselves.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Arthur & Oksana
I'm Russian, but was born in Ukraine. Arthur is Ukrainian. We first met three years ago during a photography workshop and became friends. After mutual visits in several countries, Arthur moved to Moscow when we decided to live together. Now we work and travel together, visiting our friends and families in Russia, Ukraine and around the whole world.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Olga & Vladimir
Vladimir is a Russian contemporary artist, Olga is a ballerina. She was born in Kirovogradskaya region, Ukraine. They live together in Khimki, Russia, with their newborn baby. They were one of the first couples who agreed to be photographed when our mutual friend posted my picture on Facebook.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Yulia & Edik
Yulia, born in Ukraine, and Edik, born in Russia, are refugees from Donbass and live in Moscow with their 4-year-old son Dima. The two of them have relatives in both Russia and Ukraine. Because of their son, the couple decided to flee the war - leaving their relatives behind - and move to Moscow. That's where Life Links reporter Emily portrayed Yulia for the episode #prideandprejudice.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Dima & Sasha
Dima is from Russia, Sasha was born in Ukraine. Sasha is a member of Femen and the first time they met was when Dima, as a photographer, came to do a report about Femen in Kiev for the New York Times. Since then they have been in a relationship. Some time later Sasha left Ukraine and asked for political asylum in France. Since then Dima and Sasha have lives in Paris.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Dima & Vlada
Dima and Vlada are good friends of mine. I've known them for ages, but I never thought about them as participants for my projects; I just forgot their story. Dima was born in Moscow, Russia. Vlada is from Kiev, Ukraine. They met each other in Georgia and had a long distance relationship in the beginning. Finally, the couple decided to live together in US, where they had their baby Lev a year ago.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Maksim & Darya
Darya (from Ukraine) and Maksim's (from Russia) love story started on a summer day in Voronezh, Russia. Using the same ride-sharing service, they spent 7 hours together. Maxim said it was love at first sight. When I photographed them, Darya was just back from a trip, so the couple had been apart for several days. They were hugging and kissing each other and it looked very natural and beautiful.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Valery & Sveta
Valery is from Odessa, Ukraine. Sveta was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. They met in Odessa when Sveta came to visit her friend. They became friends first, but a year later they got married. They are both interested in yoga, different cultures and esoteric things. I loved being in their small apartment in Saint Petersburg because you could feel all the harmony and beauty surrounding them.
Image: Oksana Yushko
Sasha & Lena
Alexander is from Krasnodar, Russia. Lena was born in Kiev, Ukraine. They met on vacation in Greece in 2013, a couple of months before the Euromaidan demonstrations started in Kiev. After spending a day together, it made them think about each other. A year later Lena moved to Moscow to live with Alexander. Their relationship became even stronger in the face of the problems between the two nations.
