Saakashvili also appended this English text to his video:
I am a simple Ukrainian! Today I am being subjected to the same approaches that are used by Ukraine’s prosecutors or bureaucrats against regular Ukrainians, whose rights are spat upon.
I have lived in Ukraine for more than thirteen years, I participated in three revolutions, all of them in Ukraine: the Revolution on the Granite (1991) and two “Maidan” revolutions! I have only one citizenship, that of Ukraine and I will not be deprived of it!
Now there is an attempt under way to force me to become a refugee. This will not happen! I will not remain anywhere else and will not change status! I will fight for my legal right to return to Ukraine!
Poroshenko decided to deprive me of my citizenship in an underhanded way, while I am out of the country!
As soon as those in power realized that the opposition is unifying in order to come out into the streets this fall and put an end to their oligarchic pact, their fear overcame their reason! President Poroshenko has spit upon the Constitution, of which he is supposed to be the guarantor!
Poroshenko traveled to Georgia not in order to establish ties between the two countries, but in order to come to another agreement, this time between two oligarchic regimes, that of the Ukrainian Poroshenko and the biggest shareholder in Gazprom, the pro-Russian Ivanishvili.
They have thought up that, supposedly, new evidence in my case has been provided to the General Procuratura of Ukraine, but this is just another lie and a trick. Since I was given citizenship no new case has been initiated against me in Georgia! Those fabricated cases that have been initiated, these accusations have not been recognized by any country other than Georgia!
Two days ago this president, on whom the Maidan once placed its hopes, changed the composition of the Citizenship Committee. On July 24 he appointed new people to this Commission in order to have a completely subservient commission that would agree to any of the President’s whims.
Well, Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko, I can only say to you that you have poor advisers.
With this decree of yours you have decreed, for yourself and for your government, inevitable failure. If, before this, you could have expected to draw out the time before the next elections, now you can only dream about this.
Today, you, Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko, have crossed a red line. Today the entire country has understood the price of your promises “to live anew.” Now, doubtless, you, as was the case with your predecessor, will be tempted to try and hold on to power at any price. You may try this, just remember, they are waiting for you in Russia! Ukrainians have twice dealt with this pestilence and they will not stop until they bring truly new politicians to power!
I adopted Ukrainian citizenship in order to fight for reforms, to fight for the successful future of Ukraine, on which the future of my own native Georgia depends as well. For me citizenship is not an empty concept. Every day that I held the passport of a citizen of Ukraine I worked hard in order that Ukraine would be successful and become a European super-state!
I am more of a Ukrainian than may of the current deputies. I love Ukraine with all my heart and I will continue the fight here, in our Ukraine, without regard to any obstacles!
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this update on Mikheil Saakashvili's situation:
Saakashvili May Be Forced To Seek Asylum In United States, Legislator Says
Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president and Ukrainian governor who was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship on July 26, may be forced to seek asylum in the United States, a Ukrainian legislator said.
Saakashvili said on Facebook that he was visiting the United States when Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stripped him of his citizenship, but he did not indicate whether he would seek to stay there.
The Ukrainian legislator from Poroshenko's faction in parliament, Serhiy Leshchenko, said on Facebook that if Saakashvili seeks to return to Ukraine, he would face extradition to Georgia to face charges for alleged crimes that occurred during his presidency.
Poroshenko had appointed Saakashvili, a reformist who became president of Georgia during the 2003 Rose Revolution but later fell out of favor, to be governor of the Odesa region in 2015. Poroshenko saw him at that time as an ally.
But Saakashvili resigned the post last year, complaining of official obstruction of his anticorruption efforts.
Saakashvili's supporters on July 26 called Poroshenko's action to strip Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship an "unconstitutional" reprisal for Saakashvili's criticisms.
Poroshenko offered no public explanation for the move, but Leshchenko said late on July 26 that the president's intention was to force Saakashvili to stay out of the country and seek refuge in the United States.
"Saakashvili cannot return to Ukraine even physically, as he will be detained at Boryspil [Airport] upon arrival and will be extradited to Georgia," Leshchenko said.
Since Saakashvili cannot return to Ukraine and is in danger of being extradited to Georgia, Poroshenko's decision was designed to force Saakashvili "to take an asylum in America and forget about Ukrainian politics," Leshchenko said.
The move derails any chance Saakashvili could seek office in Ukraine, though the party he formed is seeking early elections there. Under Ukrainian law, only Ukrainian citizens can lead political parties or be elected to parliament.
Other lawmakers in Poroshenko's bloc criticized the president's decision.
"Stripping Mikheil Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship is the most stupid thing that one could think up, a sign of weakness not befitting a president of Ukraine," said legislator Mustafa Nayyem.
"One may disagree with Mikheil, some may not like him, but overall Saakashvili is on our side of civilized barricades," he said."In the end, the winner in the squabble between the two presidents could be anyone, but not Ukraine."
With reporting by AP, Reuters, and Interfax
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.