Georgia says it has opened fire on ＂Russian warplanes＂ that intruded into its airspace.

　　　　On August 6, Georgia accused Russian warplanes of launching missiles into its territory. The picture shows Georgia detonating missiles.

　　　　BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua)-According to a comprehensive report, an official of Georgia’s Ministry of the Interior said on the 24th that "when Russian fighters invaded Georgia’s airspace again a few days ago, the Georgian military finally chose to fire at Russian fighters to fight back". Local residents reported that they then heard a violent explosion and found the nearby forest on fire.

　　　　"At 22: 24 the day before yesterday (22nd), the Georgian military opened fire on the invading Russian warplanes over Abkhazia," Sota-Utiavini, spokesman of the Georgian Ministry of Interior, said in an interview. Sota-Utiavini also said that shortly after the Georgian military opened fire, local residents reported that they heard a violent explosion and saw the forest burning. But as of now, Georgian officials are still not sure whether the fighter plane has crashed.

　　　　Teglia, Deputy Minister of Defense of Georgia, also told reporters that it was probably a modified Soviet fighter that invaded Georgia’s airspace. Both the military radar and the civil aviation system monitored the invasion, and it was the ninth such incident in three months. "The Ministry of National Defense does not rule out that such frequent violations of Georgian airspace are related to Russian reconnaissance activities or represent a provocation." KuTeglia said that after the invasion, Georgian air defense system detected that a Russian plane violated its border twice and flew over Upper Abkhazia (Kodori Gorge), and the speed of the plane was 470-490 kilometers per hour. At present, Georgia has sent a note to the Russian Foreign Ministry, demanding that they must immediately give a clear explanation about the violation of the country’s airspace by a Russian plane. Russia immediately responded to Georgia’s allegations. Colonel Alexander Drobyshevski, spokesman of the Russian Air Force, said: "Russian Air Force aircraft did not fly along the Georgian border that day, and Russian aircraft did not violate Georgian airspace."

　　　　Rubani Rasjain, an expert on Russian issues at George Washington University in the United States, believes that the Abkhazia region involved in the new round of war of words between Georgia and Russia is an old problem between the two countries. On the surface and legally, Abkhazia is a part of Georgia, but Georgia’s sovereignty does not actually extend to this area from the Psou River to the Inguri River. This autonomous Republic has not been recognized by the international community since it declared "independence" in 1992, but it is closely related to Russia. It was not until July 2006 that the Georgian central government took control of the Kodori Gorge near Abkhazia. South Ossetia is an autonomous prefecture of Georgia, bordering on North Ossetia, Russia. After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, South Ossetia demanded to merge with North Ossetia in Russia and establish an independent republic. This led to a sharp deterioration of the contradiction between the Georgian central government and the local authorities in South Ossetia, and a large-scale armed conflict broke out. Due to the close relationship between South Ossetia authorities and Russia, Georgia often accuses Russia of secretly providing military and economic assistance to South Ossetia, which has also seriously affected the relations between the two countries.

　　　　Georgian officials once again accused Russian fighter planes of throwing a missile near South Ossetia, which landed in front of a house in the village of Chedrubani, but did not explode. The Georgian side said that it found the unexploded missile in a vegetable field near the village of Tete rubani, 65km northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The missile incident has once again strained the relations between Georgia and Russia. The Russian authorities have denied that Russian planes have ever been active in that area. Russian experts sent to that area said that the photos of the missile wreckage provided by Georgia showed that the missile was neither Russian nor Soviet. Two independent international expert groups invited by Georgia approved Georgia’s statement. However, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Churkin accused Georgia of forging a "missile legend", deliberately creating a "political tsunami" and provoking it. (Bi Yuan)

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Editor: Zhao Xuanxuan