Russia violates airspace again - Georgia

Georgia yesterday accused Russian military jets of violating its airspace for a second time this month, but Russia said its aircraft had been nowhere near Georgian frontiers.

Georgia made the allegation two weeks after it had accused a Russian jet of dropping a missile in a farmer's field 65 km from Tbilisi, an incident that worsened already tense relations between the ex-Soviet neighbours.

Georgia's foreign ministry said in a statement on its internet site that on Tuesday, Russian aircraft had crossed five kilometres into Georgia near its Black Sea coast and adjacent to the rebel Georgian region of Abkhazia.

Most of that region is controlled by separatists, but the foreign ministry said the over flight was in a corner of Abkhazia under Georgian control. Moscow-backed Abkhazia is a regular source of tension between Georgia and Russia.

"A Georgian anti-aircraft defence system tracked... the violation of the Georgian state border and incursion into Georgian airspace from the Russian Federation," the foreign ministry said in its statement.

Shota Utiashvili, head of the analytical department at Georgia's interior ministry, said there were two aircraft and they appeared to be Sukhoi jets.

But Russia's Defence Ministry chief spokesman, Vyacheslav Sedov, said: "On the date mentioned by Georgia the planes of the Russian air force did not fly near to the Georgian border."

In New York, Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin accused Georgia of fabricating the missile incident earlier this month in the hope of creating a "political tsunami."

Georgian Deputy Foreign Merab Antadze responded yesterday by saying Mr Churkin's comments were "shameless Soviet diplomacy".

Relations betwen Russia and Georgia have been in a state of crisis since US-educated President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in Tbilisi three years ago and moved his republic of five million people out of Moscow's orbit.

Russia last year severed air, sea and postal links with its southern neighbour over a spying row. Before that, Moscow had banned imports of Georgian wine and mineral water, both major sources of revenue, citing health concerns.