Saakashvili: "Georgia has been plundered by a mafia clan"
Georgia has been completely plundered, is in the hands of a mafia clan. They are judging me, the creator of the modern Georgian state. This was stated in court by the arrested former president of the country Mikheil Saakashvili.
 
Saakashvili also commented on the ongoing protests in Georgia against the results of the parliamentary elections, in which the ruling party "Georgian Dream" gained the majority.
 
"There is no right more valuable than the right to vote, freedom of choice. People got up early in the morning, went to the regions to vote. I saw people coming from different countries to vote. In the evening, they announced that the elections were stolen, and they left empty-handed. This is the reality we have received. The situation is simple: our country was stolen. Now is not the time for party disagreements. We will either continue to resist or surrender and Georgia as a country will cease to exist," said Mikheil Saakashvili.
 
Mass protests against the results of the elections held on October 26 are taking place daily in Georgia. The opposition, its supporters and the country's president Salome Zurabishvili called the vote count fabricated. The election results were also not recognized in European countries and the United States.
Последние новости
Human rights
"They’re going to kill me": St. Petersburg lawyer of Chechen descent found with signs of strangulation
16 August 2026

Shamil Akhaev, a 44-year-old lawyer who had lost contact on August 10, has been found dead. Media outlets and online groups tracking the search reported the news on August 15. His body was discovered in a wooded area.

CSTO Secretary General Urges Armenia to Decide on Participation in the Organization Within a
Politics
CSTO Secretary General Urges Armenia to Decide on Participation in the Organization Within a "Reasonable Timeframe"
16 August 2026

It is time for Armenia to decide how it will participate in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), stated the organization's Secretary General, Taalatbek Masadykov. According to him, the issue needs to be resolved "within a reasonable timeframe."

New car sales in Russia’s North Caucasus fall by 21%
Economy
New car sales in Russia’s North Caucasus fall by 21%
15 August 2026

New car sales across Russia’s North Caucasus fell by 21% in July compared with the same month last year. The sharpest decline was recorded in Dagestan, where the new-car market nearly halved over the year.

Queues at Verkhny Lars border crossing emerge amid rumours of a new mobilisation in Russia
Society
Queues at Verkhny Lars border crossing emerge amid rumours of a new mobilisation in Russia
15 August 2026

Queues remain at the Russian-Georgian border following temporary restrictions on traffic through the Verkhny Lars crossing. The situation has drawn additional attention amid rumours circulating in Russia about a possible new mobilisation, recalling the autumn of 2022, when large numbers of men eligible for military service left the country through the crossing. There is no official evidence linking the current restrictions to any mobilisation measures.