Georgia Detains Three Russian Military Officers
February 08, 2006
8 February 2006 -- Officials say police in Georgia today detained three Russian military officers who entered Georgian territory without visas.
The incident was the latest in a series of events that have raised tensions between Tbilisi and Moscow.
Russian peacekeepers are stationed in the area between Georgia and its breakaway province of South Ossetia. Tbilisi accuses them of siding with the separatists.
Georgia's Deputy Minister for Conflict Resolution, Georgy Volsky, said the officers were being held after being detained in the village of Kurta.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the three had gone to the area to investigate a serious incident some ten days ago when Georgian police impounded a Russian peacekeepers' truck involved in a traffic accident near South Ossetia.
(AP, ITAR-TASS, Interfax)