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TBILISI, Georgia (CNN) -- A pair of Russian fighter jets violated
Georgian airspace Monday evening, firing a missile that landed near a
village north of the capital, Tbilisi, Georgian authorities said
Tuesday morning. There were no casualties.
"Two Russian, presumably, SU-24 frontline bombers violated Georgian
airspace near Kazbegi and flew towards Gori," an Interior Ministry
statement said. "The Russians launched 'air-surface' precision-guided
missiles and bombed the surroundings of Tsitelubani village."
"Our radars show that these jets flew from Russia and then flew back
in the same direction that they had come from ..." Georgian Interior
Minister Vano Merabishvili told Reuters.
"I assess this fact as an act of aggression carried out by planes
flown from the territory of another state," he added.
Shota Utiashvili, the head of the Georgian interior ministry's public
relations department, earlier told Reuters that the Russian jets had
dropped a 700 kilo (1,543 lb) bomb.
"Fortunately it didn't explode. If it had exploded it would have been
a disaster," he added. He said nobody was hurt.
A senior official in Russia's air force quickly denied the reports.
Col. Alexandr Drobyshevskiy, the assistant commander of Russia's air
force, said Russian planes did not fly any missions in the area and
did not violate Georgia's airspace.
Tsitelubani is located about 40 miles (65 km) north of Tbilisi, and on
the border of the breakaway region of South Ossetia. South Ossetia
split with Georgia in the early 1990s.
Officials from the breakaway region were to meet with Georgian
officials on Tuesday, but canceled the meeting after the alleged
attack, claiming Georgia could not guarantee their safety. Tbilisi
accused Moscow of trying to sidetrack the talks.
Russia provides moral and financial support for Georgia's rebel
Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. It has accused Tbilisi of pursuing
anti-Russian policies.
Georgia's previous administration, under ousted President Eduard
Shevardnadze, accused Russia in 2002 of sending fighter jets on
sorties over its territory, but Moscow denied any involvement.
At that time, Tbilisi alleged that Russian jets had dropped ordnance
on uninhabited areas of the remote Pankisi Gorge in north-east
Georgia, near the border with Russia.
Relations between Russia and Georgia deteriorated sharply again last
year when Tbilisi deported four Russian army officers, accusing them
of spying.
Moscow responded by withdrawing its ambassador from Tbilisi and
cutting air, sea and postal links with Georgia. Russia also deported
several thousand Georgians, saying they were illegal immigrants.
Tension is still high but there have been tentative signs this year
that the crisis was easing. Moscow's ambassador has returned to
Tbilisi and the two sides have been in talks -- so far unsuccessful --
to restore air links.
- - - - -
In just the past month Putin has given Britain the finger,
claimed half the arctic sea, now he's (allegedly) blasting
things in Georgia. What's the deal here ? Are we looking
at a new, aggressive, Russia with territorial ambitions ?
Did Putin and Bush secretly agree to these things - and
to renew the 'cold war' as a way to cement Putins power
and replace Iraq as the funding source for our military-
industrial complex ??? We've been pretty heavy-handed
over on Putins side of the globe - threatening to be even
more so in Iran and Pakistan - so maybe we had to give in
order to get.
Did we give away Georgia ? Who's next, Ukraine ? Estonia ?
Georgian airspace Monday evening, firing a missile that landed near a
village north of the capital, Tbilisi, Georgian authorities said
Tuesday morning. There were no casualties.
"Two Russian, presumably, SU-24 frontline bombers violated Georgian
airspace near Kazbegi and flew towards Gori," an Interior Ministry
statement said. "The Russians launched 'air-surface' precision-guided
missiles and bombed the surroundings of Tsitelubani village."
"Our radars show that these jets flew from Russia and then flew back
in the same direction that they had come from ..." Georgian Interior
Minister Vano Merabishvili told Reuters.
"I assess this fact as an act of aggression carried out by planes
flown from the territory of another state," he added.
Shota Utiashvili, the head of the Georgian interior ministry's public
relations department, earlier told Reuters that the Russian jets had
dropped a 700 kilo (1,543 lb) bomb.
"Fortunately it didn't explode. If it had exploded it would have been
a disaster," he added. He said nobody was hurt.
A senior official in Russia's air force quickly denied the reports.
Col. Alexandr Drobyshevskiy, the assistant commander of Russia's air
force, said Russian planes did not fly any missions in the area and
did not violate Georgia's airspace.
Tsitelubani is located about 40 miles (65 km) north of Tbilisi, and on
the border of the breakaway region of South Ossetia. South Ossetia
split with Georgia in the early 1990s.
Officials from the breakaway region were to meet with Georgian
officials on Tuesday, but canceled the meeting after the alleged
attack, claiming Georgia could not guarantee their safety. Tbilisi
accused Moscow of trying to sidetrack the talks.
Russia provides moral and financial support for Georgia's rebel
Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. It has accused Tbilisi of pursuing
anti-Russian policies.
Georgia's previous administration, under ousted President Eduard
Shevardnadze, accused Russia in 2002 of sending fighter jets on
sorties over its territory, but Moscow denied any involvement.
At that time, Tbilisi alleged that Russian jets had dropped ordnance
on uninhabited areas of the remote Pankisi Gorge in north-east
Georgia, near the border with Russia.
Relations between Russia and Georgia deteriorated sharply again last
year when Tbilisi deported four Russian army officers, accusing them
of spying.
Moscow responded by withdrawing its ambassador from Tbilisi and
cutting air, sea and postal links with Georgia. Russia also deported
several thousand Georgians, saying they were illegal immigrants.
Tension is still high but there have been tentative signs this year
that the crisis was easing. Moscow's ambassador has returned to
Tbilisi and the two sides have been in talks -- so far unsuccessful --
to restore air links.
- - - - -
In just the past month Putin has given Britain the finger,
claimed half the arctic sea, now he's (allegedly) blasting
things in Georgia. What's the deal here ? Are we looking
at a new, aggressive, Russia with territorial ambitions ?
Did Putin and Bush secretly agree to these things - and
to renew the 'cold war' as a way to cement Putins power
and replace Iraq as the funding source for our military-
industrial complex ??? We've been pretty heavy-handed
over on Putins side of the globe - threatening to be even
more so in Iran and Pakistan - so maybe we had to give in
order to get.
Did we give away Georgia ? Who's next, Ukraine ? Estonia ?
