Saakashvili was placed in a temporary detention facility, General Prosecutor Yury Lutsenko said. The former Governor of Ukraine's Odessa region and founder of the opposition Movement of New Forces was taken into custody "in accordance with an arrest warrant" after police tracked him down in Kiev, Lutsenko wrote on Facebook.

Authorities attempted to detain Saakashvili for questioning earlier this week, but his supporters clashed with police in an attempt to prevent the detention.

On Tuesday, officers conducting a search in Saakashvili’s apartment in Kiev, dragged him off the roof and bundled him into a car. His supporters, however, blocked the streets and broke the door of the police van and freed Saakashvili. After being sprung, Saakashvili led a march on parliament, where he encouraged his supporters to topple the current Ukrainian leaderership.

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The former Georgian leader was once a close ally of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who granted him citizenship and appointed him Governor of Odessa Region. Their friendship did not last long, though, with Saakashvili resigning in November 2016 to form his own political party, the Movement of New Forces. The governor, turned opposition leader, accused Ukrainian authorities, and particularly leader of the “gang” Poroshenko, of corruption and “robbing” the country.