Georgia: Russia broke ceasefire

2008-10-15 19:06

Tbilisi - Georgia on Wednesday accused Russian forces of firing grenades at a police post and entering its airspace in violation of a European-brokered ceasefire.

The accusations came amid chaotic attempts in Geneva to hold the first direct peace talks since the Russia-Georgia war in August. The Russian and Georgian delegations sat in different rooms without meeting face-to-face.

Russian soldiers opened fire overnight on the police station in the village of Rukhi from the Abkhaz-controlled village of Chuburkhinji, local leader Zaza Gorozia said.

"The Russians fired grenade launchers. Fortunately, there were no victims," Gorozia, governor of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region near Abkhazia, told Rustavi 2 television.

Authorities in Abkhazia, which along with South Ossetia, have sought to break away from Georgia, have denied such an incident occurred, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

Separately, an official in Tbilisi said a Russian helicopter entered Georgian skies near South Ossetia.

"Today at 12:30 pm (0830 GMT), a Russian MI-8 helicopter entered Georgian airspace from the Khromi gorge," said Alexander Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia's security council.

The helicopter "made several circles above the Georgian police post located in the village of Mejvriskhevi and flew back towards the Akhalgori district".

This was "yet another violation of the ceasefire agreements committed by the Russian Federation", he added.

Russian troops rolled into Georgia on August 8 to push back a Georgian offensive to retake South Ossetia from the separatists.

They have since withdrawn from most of Georgia in line with a ceasefire brokered by the European Union but Tbilisi is furious at the continuing presence of 7 600 Russian troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

- AFP