Russia denies violating Georgian airspace

By RIA Novosti

Moscow : Russia denied Tuesday that its two military aircraft had violated airspace and dropped a bomb in a Georgian village.


Support TwoCircles

“Russian aircraft did not fly over Georgian territory either Monday evening or Tuesday morning,” said Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky, a spokesman for the Russian Air Force. “They (the aircraft) did not violate Georgian airspace.”

Georgia’s interior ministry had alleged two Russian fighters flew Monday over Georgian territory dropping a 700-kg bomb on the village of Tsitelubani, located 65 km northwest of capital Tbilisi. The bomb did not explode.

The Georgian interior minister called the alleged incident an act of aggression. “I consider this incident as an act of aggression on the part of pilots who flew from the territory of a foreign state,” Vano Merabishvili said.

Relations between Russia and Georgia have soured ever since pro-Western president Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in the former Soviet republic on the back of the so called rose revolution in 2003.

Russia’s presence in Georgian conflict zones and a ban by Russia on Georgia’s key imports, mineral water and wine, have marred relations even further.

SUPPORT TWOCIRCLES HELP SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND NON-PROFIT MEDIA. DONATE HERE