Submit your comments on this article | ||||
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | ||||
Georgia: Rooskies shot down our drone | ||||
2008-04-21 | ||||
TBILISI (Reuters) - A Georgian unmanned reconnaissance plane downed at the weekend was shot down by a Russian air force jet, Georgia's air force said on Monday, citing video footage of the incident. "On April 20 a Russian Mig-29 fighter jet shot down an unarmed, unmanned air vehicle which was performing basic reconnaissance over Georgian territory," Colonel David Nairashvili, commander of Georgia's air force, told Reuters. "It's absolutely illegal for a Russian Mig-29 to be there," he said. A spokesman for Russia's air force, when asked about the Georgian allegation, said: "Nonsense. What would a Russian jet fighter be doing over Georgian territory?"
Abkhazia's separatist administration said on Sunday its forces had shot down the drone. Tbilisi's pro-Western government last week accused Moscow of a de facto annexation of Abkhazia after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to establish closer ties with the region.
Nairashvili said the aircraft type meant it could only be a Russian air force jet. "The Mig-29 has a distinctive twin-tail marking. It's a Russian aircraft. Georgia does not possess it, nor do Abkhaz separatists," he said.
| ||||
Posted by:Steve White |