Volodymyr Zelensky talks about the attack on Kherson
Volodymyr Zelensky has been labeled a “new Churchill” by the former president of Georgia Misha Saakashvili.
The ex-leader was something of a forerunner for the Ukrainian president in taking on Vladimir Putin.
In 2008, he embarked on a conflict with Russia in South Ossetia, although it was a war that lasted just months, unlike Ukraine.
Commenting on the Ukrainian president in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk Mr Saakashvili, who is currently in prison, praised Zelensky’s resolve to stay and fight.
“Zelensky is a new Churchill. Zelensky has endured much greater and longer attacks than I ever had,” he said.
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He added: “It is true that in 2008 I was also offered to leave the country just like Zelensky was in 2021.”
Mr Saakashvili has been in prison for the past two years on criminal charges he believes are politically motivated, in that time his health has deteriorated significantly as a result, he claims of being poisoned.
The former president, who has spent time living in Ukraine since losing power a decade ago, told Express.co.uk he was “in contact” with Zelensky’s administration.
In February, the Ukrainian president called for Mr Saakashvili to be released on Twitter.
“Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is being slowly killed,” Zelensky wrote on wrote on the social media platform above a picture of Saakashvili pulling up his shirt to show his weight loss.
“Ukraine offered solutions. I urge the world to help save [Saakashvili’s] life and prevent his execution,” he added.
The ties between Ukraine and Georgia extend to the battlefield in the war with Russia.
Since 2014, the Georgian National Legion of fighters has fought alongside Ukrainian troops against their powerful neighbour.
Mr Saakashvili whose hand-written answers to Express.co.uk questions were written in his hospital room jail, said he was in awe of these soldiers many of whom he believe were from the region of Abkhazia – one of the Russian-backed republics beside Georgia where trouble erupted under his leadership in 2008.
“They are amazing,” he wrote, “they know it is our war. It’s not by coincidence that many of them are from Abkhazia as they see Ukraine as a frontline for a Georgian return to Abkhazia.”
Although it has drawn praise abroad, the Georgian Legion has attracted controversy back home.
“While the vast majority of Georgians are proud of their sacrifice, the government has been distinctly less enthused, and has even considered stripping those who cross the border to fight of their citizenship,” said Mr Saakashvili’s Minister of Defence when Russia was at war with Georgia in 2008, David Kezerashvili.
“There are approximately 2,000 Georgian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, which might not seem a big number at first glance, but is proportionately large given Georgia’s small population.
“So far around 40 soldiers have died in fighting,” he added.
The former defence minister agreed with his former leader that the Ukainian President had proven himself of the same calibre as Churchill.
“There is no question that President Zelensky has taken his place alongside Winston Churchill in the pantheon of great wartime leaders,” he said.
“The challenge before him is formidable, but already he has succeeded in protecting Ukrainian sovereignty and rallying a complacent West. While it is too early to make forecasts on Putin’s political longevity, there is little doubt he has emerged from this conflict a much diminished figure.”
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