News about Mikheil Saakashvili

Georgian student Elene Deisadze was browsing TikTok in 2022 when she stumbled across the profile of a girl, Anna Panchulidze, who looked exactly like her. Months later, after chatting and becoming friends, they both separately learnt they were adopted, and last year decided to take a DNA test. It revealed they were not only related, but identical twins. 'I had a happy childhood, but now my entire past felt like a deception,' said Anna, an English student at university. Far from an innocent case of separation at birth, the sisters are among tens of thousands of Georgian children who were illegally sold in a decades-long baby trafficking scandal.

The ex-Soviet republic has been gripped for weeks by huge protests over the bill, dubbed the 'Russian law' as it resembles repressive legislation used by the Kremlin. Protesters - largely young people - are furious over the bill, saying it will sabotage the Caucasus country's hopes of joining the EU and will end democracy in the country. The ruling Georgian Dream party - which was forced to drop a similar bill last year after a huge backlash - are intent on passing the bill Tuesday, arguing it is all about transparency. The law requires NGOs and media receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as an 'organisation pursuing the interests of a foreign power'. MPs on Monday pushed the bill through a parliamentary legal committee in minutes. Tens of thousands protested against the bill Sunday, with some staying all night to stop ruling party MPs from entering the parliament building Monday.

According to sources, the defunct Russian military helicopter pilot who went down in Spain last week may have been tracked down due to his debauched lifestyle. After leaving Russia last year in a robbed Mi-8 helicopter and landing in Ukraine, Captain Maksim Kuzminov (main), 28, was discovered dead in an underground car park in Villajoyosa near Alicante on February 13. Spanish police are now probing whether the Russian mafia and intelligence services carried out a dramatic assassination after being aware of his whereabouts because of his suspected use of opioids, solicitation of prostitutes, and street brawling.

After a Russian defector pilot was shot down near Benidorm, a Kremlin hit squad is believed to be on the loose in Spain. Following what seems to have been a Kremlin-orchestrated attack, Captain Maksim Kuzminov (left) was discovered full of bullets in an underground car park in Villajoyosa near Alicante earlier this month. By fleeing his homeland last August with a stolen Mi-8 helicopter and landing it in a Ukrainian military airfield, the 28-year-old had become a target of Russian death squads. According to police reports, the pistol used to murder him was Russian and the move is thought to have been a 'calling card,' and it is likely he was killed by a Kremlin hit squad headquartered in Costa Blanca. According to a survey, the same hit team may have been blamed for Sergey Protosenya, 55, who was found hanged after allegedly murdering his wife and teenage daughter (right) with an axe as they slept in 2022.

Navalny died after being sick on a walk at the Arctic penal colony, where he was detained, according to Russia's federal prison service. In remarks from the White House last night, Biden said, 'Make no mistake, Putin is to blame for Navalny's death.' He was a strong voice for the truth even in prison.' Navalny had been "brutally murdered by the Kremlin," according to Latvia's president, Edgars Rinkevics, while French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said his death "reminds us of the truth of Putin's regime." Across the world, demonstrations have erupted, with hundreds of people gathering to pay their respects to Navalny and brand Putin, a 'killer' on self-made signs.

Georgian organisations receiving more than 20% of their funds from abroad must register as 'foreign agents' or face fines, according to the bill. Former Georgian Dream Party leaders had previously stated that the law was necessary to demask critics of the Georgian Orthodox Church, one of the country's most influential organisations. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who said she would veto it if it crossed her desk, has compared the bill to a 2012 Russian rule that has been used to clamp down on opposition.

In his prison cell, Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critic and 'arch-nemesis' is poisoned, according to his family and lawyers. Mikheil Saakashvili (pictured left and right last December), a former Georgia president, looked frail and ill as he appeared in court via video connection in the ex-Soviet state. After being accused of abuse of power, he was sentenced to six years in jail on October 1st last year, according to allegations that his allies are politically motivated.