De facto Tskhinvai officials say Tbilisi fired on unmanned aerial vehicle
Russia occupied two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) in 2008. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Tweet 
Share
The de facto “security committee” of Russia-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region announced that at around 10 a.m. this morning, fire was opened on their unmanned aerial vehicle from the Tbilisi-controlled Khashuri Municipality.
The “security committee” said that in the morning of September 1 the quadrocopter of the region's “security structures” carrying out “humanitarian operation to ensure safety" of local population, provided video surveillance along what they call “a state border”.
Calling this incident “a direct provocation” from Tbilisi aimed to “escalate yet another armed conflict” with Tskhinvali region, de facto "security committee" said the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) has been informed.
- Russian Foreign Ministry: Tbilisi deliberately escalated tensions supported by the western countries
- US calls on Russia 'to prevent further escalation' along Georgian occupation line
- EU officials see threat of escalation near occupation line in Georgia
The EUMM-facilitated Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was disrupted on August 29 as de facto South Ossetian officials left the meeting in protest after Tbilisi refused to dismantle the police checkpoint near the village of Chorchana, close to occupied village of Tsnelisi, which Tskhinvali calls Uista.
Georgian officials unanimously said the police checkpoint will not be dismantled. In response Tskhinvali announced of launching a "humanitarian operation" in Tsnelisi.
The Russian Foreign Ministry shared “serious concern over the escalation of tension on the border between South Ossetia and Georgia” caused by the construction of Georgian police checkpoint close to the villages of Chorchana and Tsnelisi on both sides of the occupation line.
The United States is “monitoring reports of military buildup near the administrative boundary line (ABL) of the Russian-occupied Georgian region of South Ossetia”. The US Department of State Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus released a statement on her official Twitter account today.
The de-facto South Ossetia ‘State Security Committee’ has announced that a ‘humanitarian operation’ will be carried out in the Russia-occupied village of Tsnelisi. The official statement does not clearly define what the ‘humanitarian operation’ is though it reads the operation is ‘absolutely peaceful.’“The operation is absolutely peaceful and serves to maintain stability and safety in the region,” the statement says.
The members of the Georgian government and occupation forces of the de-facto Tskhinvali region and Russia have held a meeting amid tensions along the occupation line in the Russia-occupied village of Tsnelisi today.
After the three-hour meeting was over, the Georgian and Ossetian sides made different statements. Head of the Georgian Security Council Kakhaber Kemoklidze said the meeting participants were unanimous, saying the situation should be de-escalated, adding the meeting was held in a ‘constructive environment.’
The Georgian State Security Service has denied accusations put forward by de facto Tskhinvali that fire was opened on their unmanned aerial vehicle from Tbilisi-controlled area.