Locked up in a Tbilisi hospital, Mikheil Saakashvili is slowly wasting away. Mikheil Saakashvili warned of Putin’s ambitions 15 years ago. Now he tells of torture by a regime that panders to Moscow, reads The Guardian's article titled "Gaunt and ghostly, Georgia’s jailed ex-president nears death in hospital".

As the agency writes, photographs and video of Saakashvili in hospital show him gaunt and confused.

"A recent report from independent experts suggested his health has deteriorated severely and he will soon face irreversible organ damage. Since his arrest, he says, his weight has halved to 60kg," reads the article.

As The Guardian notes, now, the incarceration and rapid decline of a man who put his country on a path towards EU and Nato integration is seen by many of Georgia’s western allies as a symbol of the country’s drift back towards Moscow’s orbit of influence. The agency adds that while Georgian society remains resolutely pro-western, its government is accused of stealthily doing Russia’s bidding.

"An openly pro-Russian position would never fly in Georgia, where memories of the 2008 war still linger and with Moscow still de-facto occupying 20% of Georgian territory. Surveys consistently show that an overwhelming majority of Georgians are in favour of European integration. Buildings across Tbilisi have been painted with Ukrainian flags or graffiti obscenities about Vladimir Putin.

But critics say Ivanishvili, who is still believed to control the Georgian Dream government despite having no formal role, is sabotaging the European integration agenda while claiming to support it, and thus playing into Moscow’s hand," reads the article.

According to The Guardian, Georgia­n Dream government has also equivocated on the war in Ukraine, citing fears that being too openly pro-Ukrainian could lead to renewed conflict with Russia. As the agency notes, Giorgi Margvelashvili, who was the country’s president between 2013 and 2018, said it was “unbearably painful” to watch as the government tried to maintain neutrality in the war, even as many Georgian volunteers have gone to fight.

"On Friday, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, made an appeal for the release of Saakashvili, who has been a Ukrainian citizen since 2015: “If a person needs medical attention and his life depends on it, then this step is necessary.” Separately, the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny slammed the “awful and heartless” treatment of Saakashvili in a statement from prison, saying it was affecting Georgia’s bid for EU candidacy and decreases the chance of a normal future," reads the article.