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Georgia in Russian attack claim | Georgia in Russian attack claim |
(40 minutes later) | |
Russia has committed an "act of aggression" against Georgia by dropping a bomb or a missile on a Georgian village, officials in Tbilisi say. | |
They say the ordnance landed outside the village of Tsitelubani on Monday, about 65km (40 miles) west of the capital Tbilisi, but did not explode. | |
Russian officials have moved quickly to deny all of the accusations. | |
Relations between the two neighbouring countries have often been fraught since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. | |
'Act of aggression' | |
"Russia's air force neither on Monday nor Tuesday flew flights over Georgia," Col Alexander Drobyshevsky said. | |
"Russia has not violated the borders of sovereign Georgia," added Col Drobyshevsky, who is the aide to the commander of Russia's air force. | "Russia has not violated the borders of sovereign Georgia," added Col Drobyshevsky, who is the aide to the commander of Russia's air force. |
Earlier, Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told the Reuters news agency: "Our radars show that these jets flew from Russia and then flew back in the same direction that they had come from. | |
"I assess this fact as an act of aggression carried out by planes flown from the territory of another state." | "I assess this fact as an act of aggression carried out by planes flown from the territory of another state." |
Relations between Moscow and Tbilisi deteriorated sharply last year when Georgia expelled four Russian army officers it accused of spying. | |
The deportation triggered a furious diplomatic row, with Moscow imposing economic sanctions against its neighbour and deporting a number of Georgians. | |
Georgian officials have frequently claimed that Russian military aircraft have violated its airspace - accusations always denied by Russia. | |
Moscow is angry about Georgia's plans to join Nato, while Tbilisi accuses Russia of trying to destabilize Georgia. | |
The worst problems have usually been related to regional conflicts - the frozen conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. | |
Many Georgians accuse Russia of imperialism, while Russia criticises Georgia for nationalism and pursuing an anti-Russian foreign policy. |