Ambassador Denies Russian Aircraft Entered Georgian Airspace

Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Tbilisi, 7 August: Russian ambassador to Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko has ruled out the involvement of Russian aircraft in any violation of Georgian airspace.

“Russian aircraft have nothing to do with any violation of Georgian airspace. I rule out that possibility,” Kovalenko told journalists today following a meeting with Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili.

Kovalenko said that the Georgian Foreign Ministry had presented him with data recorded by Georgian air defence radars. “This does not mean anything to me. There are Sukhoi aircraft all around the world. Incidentally, Georgia also has Sukhoi aircraft in operational service,” he added.

Kovalenko said that many questions had arisen from this incident, and that conclusions would be drawn after those issues had been studied.

Kovalenko declined to comment, saying he could not give journalists any information. “I do not have any information about this. Ask those who organized this incident. If I knew anything, I would have said it,” Kovalenko added.

Georgia has accused Russia of violating its airspace. The Georgian Interior Ministry said that a Russian aircraft had dropped a guided missile in Georgian territory. A spokesman for the Russian air force has flatly denied these statements.

[Georgian breakaway republic] South Ossetia has said that Georgia carried out an air raid on its territory and fired air-to-ground missiles on Leningorskiy District.

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