On November 23rd, 2021, the online outlet publishers.ge published an article claiming that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, appointed Mikheil Saakashvili as Prime Minister. publishers.ge notes that the news has also been reported by the Ukrainian media. The article of publishers.ge does not contain any additional information about the alleged appointment of Mikheil Saakashvili as the Prime Minister of Ukraine, while the source of the news is the video of the Ukrainian YouTuber Sergey Kornak dated back to October 31st, 2021. In the video, Sergei Kornak claims that after the October 31st local elections, the Georgian government intends to deport Mikheil Saakashvili back to Ukraine, where he will be appointed as Prime Minister by Zelensky to take over the management of the pandemic and reforms in Ukraine. Kornak also stresses that Mikheil Saakashvili is an ideal candidate for the post, and only he can bring Ukraine out of the crisis.
On November 23rd, the article by publishers.ge was shared into 11 public groups. Namely: მთავარი სიახლეები, მიხეილ სააკაშვილის მხარდამჭერები, Mikheil Saakashvili’s Supporters, მიშა საქართველოს პრეზიდენტია, 🇬🇪ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა🇬🇪, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი პრემიერ-მინისტრად, მიხეილ სააკაშვილის მხარდამჭერები, სანდრა რულოვსი -პირველი ლედი, ბიძინა ივანიშვილი – დადებითი და უარყოფითი, გიორგი მარგველაშვილი გისმენთ მეგობრებო!, ‘‘მოქალაქე’’ არასამთავრობო ორგანიზაცია.
The video of Sergey Kornak was used as a source by the online outlet newpost.ge on November 1st to spread the claims about the alleged appointments of Saakashvili as the new Ukrainian PM.
The claim that Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Mikheil Saakashvili as Prime Minister is false. The claim is based on the old viewpoints of a Ukrainian political blogger. Neither Ukrainian nor Georgian credible sources have reported on the appointment of Mikheil Saakashvili as Prime Minister of Ukraine. In addition, no such statement was made by the Ukrainian President.
Despite the fact that the video of publishers.ge references Sergei Kornak’s video in the article, the title and content still contain false information. The article does not indicate that the source is merely a viewpoint of a Ukrainian YouTuber.
Individual opinions about the appointment of Mikheil Saakashvili as the Prime Minister of Ukraine by Volodymyr Zelensky were spread in the Georgian online media in2019 as well. Noteworthy, on April 22nd, 2020, the Ukrainian media wrote that Zelensky offered Mikheil Saakashvili the post of Vice Prime Minister, but the initiative did notaccumulate the required number of votes in the Rada. In May 2020, Zelensky appointed Saakashvili as chairman of the Executive Committee for Reforms.
Zelensky also responded to the arrest of Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia on October 3rd, 2021, stating that he would work to bring Saakashvili back to Ukraine as a Ukrainian citizen.
False and manipulative information disseminated by publisher.ge has been fact-checked by “Myth Detector” in the past as well. See our articles:
- Misleading Facebook Post Alleging Bidzina Ivanishvili Tried to Leave the Country by a Helicopter
About Sergey Kornak
Sergei Kornak is a Ukrainian analyst who publishes video blogs based on his views and forecasts on Ukraine and world politics via Youtube. Kornak’s YouTube channel has more than 52,000 subscribers. Kornak’s page contains several videos about Mikheil Saakashvili, where Saakashvili is mainly presented positively. Kornak dedicated several videos to the arrest and hunger strike of Mikheil Saakashvili.
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