The relations of Georgia and Russia aggravated anew. Abkhazia announced they shot down a spying pilotless plane of Georgian Air Force past weekend.
Photo: Valery Melnikov
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Spying Jet to Cloud Relations of Russia and Georgia
The relations of Georgia and Russia that had just made a few reconciliatory moves towards Tbilisi aggravated anew. Abkhazia announced they shot down a spying pilotless plane of Georgian Air Force past weekend.
The situation on Georgia-Abkhazia’s border heated up past weekend. Having noticed active deployment of military, President of unrecognized Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh summoned up Gen Niyaz Khan Khattak, who heads the mission of U.N. military observers in the conflict area, and Ivo Petrov, deputy chief of U.N. secretary-general’s envoy in Georgia, and demanded to withdraw all Georgia’s troops from the regions of Georgia that are adjacent to the unrecognized republic.
Early on Saturday, Abkhazia’s troops moved to the boundary Inguri river and stopped on border of 12km security zone controlled by Russia’s peacekeepers.
Tbilisi said it was the scheduled rotation of police contingent stationed in Kodori Gorge and that Georgia had no intention to fight with Abkhazia. Abkhazia was urged not to respond to provocation.
But a spying unmanned jet was shot down in the Galsky region at around 10 a.m. yesterday, Chief of Abkhazia’s General Staff Anatoly Zaitsev announced yesterday afternoon, specifying that the jet could have reached that area only from Georgia. The comments of Bagapsh on the incident were openly hawkish. The plane was shot and we won’t tolerate violation of our airspace by Georgia’s military planes in future, the unrecognized president warned.
Official Tbilisi denies any links to the spying aircraft.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 21, 2008
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