By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Two Russian pilots downed last week during the conflict in South Ossetia are alive, but wounded and in a Georgian hospital, a Russian General Staff spokesman said on Saturday.
Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of General Staff, said one of the pilots had a spine wound and the other had a shoulder injury.
Last week Russian peacekeepers reported of losing a contact with a Su-25 Frogfoot close-support aircraft and a Tu-22 Blinder bomber, and that the fate of the pilots was unknown.
Nogovitsyn said the International Red Cross would soon hold talks on returning the pilots to Russia.
Russia lost at least four military aircraft during its peace enforcement operation in Georgia launched after Georgian troops started a major ground and air offensive on breakaway South Ossetia on August 8.
A Russian military spokesman said Russian border guards had managed to liberate around 20 Russian nationals held captive in Georgia.