Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s currently imprisoned former President, on Monday claimed a Russian, armed, subversive group was present in Georgia to “spark unrest and destabilization” in the country. 

In his online comments at the trial hearing involving him in Tbilisi city court, Saakashvili also called for the creation of a “civil defence hotline”, which he said would allow the public to inform about suspicious actions coming from the “100,000” Russian citizens who had entered the country” after  the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, in a bid to “detect the group”. 

The former official, who currently holds Ukrainian citizenship and is serving his six-year-term for abuse of power while in office, further added the group in question was subordinated to the Russian army. 

Responding to the claims, the Georgian Dream official labeled Saakashvili as the “only saboteur”, who they said had aimed at sparking tension in the country in October 2021, after her clandestine return from Ukraine after eight years in self-imposed political exile. 

They claimed Saakashvili was being “run” by intelligence services of a foreign state, and his “only goal” was to overthrow the current Government to retake office.