HomeNewsNews Georgian police shots down Russian military aircraft
Georgian police shots down Russian military aircraft
Written by Ramaz Mitaishvili
Friday, 24 August 2007
Unidentified military jet was flying from through the Kodori Gorge, which is located just 100 miles away from Sochi.
It had crossed into Georgia from Abkhazia(breakaway province of Georgia), and was heading to the Russian border at the ridge when a police unit fired on it, he said. He emphasized that it was not clear that the police had shot a plane down. He said that perhaps the plane had fired ordnance that started the fires, which he said were reported by residents of the mountain village of Omarishara. Georgia has accused Russia of providing military support to separatists in two Georgian regions, and has said Russia has violated its airspace with military helicopters and jets. The claims have intensified this year, and Georgia has accused Russia of conducting two separate missile attacks with aircraft. Earlier this month, Georgia said that two Russian planes had violated its border around the same area.
In a separate incident, Georgia also claimed a Russian plane had dropped a missile near the capital, Tblisi. Tbilisi could not confirm whether the plane was shot down, but said that a nearby section of forest, in Abkhazia's Kodori Gorge, was on fire.