Ukraine is de facto run by a “shadow government” whose strings are pulled by oligarchs behind the scenes, Mikheil Saakashvili, ex-president of Georgia and governor of Odesa Oblast, said on Sept. 12 at the Yalta European Strategy forum in Kyiv.

“We certainly have the reality of some kind of shadow, parallel government,” he said. “You can describe Ukraine as a joint-stock company owned by oligarchs… Every oligarch owns his own judges, prosecutors and paramilitary units.”