Tbilisi Calls on Moscow to Stop Military Build-Up in Breakaway Regions
Build-up of Russian troops and “offensive equipment” in the areas adjacent to administrative borders in the breakaway regions “increases the risk of dangerous provocation,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on September 21.
EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said on September 21 that it “observed a build-up of Russian Federation armed personnel along the South Ossetian Administrative Boundary Line.”
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Russian military build-up was “confirmed” by landing of a Russian helicopter on the Georgian-controlled territory close to breakaway South Ossetia’s capital Tskhinvali.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on September 21, that a helicopter of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, transporting humanitarian aid, had to make an emergency landing in Georgia after failure of navigation systems. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the helicopter landed in “an insignificant distance from Tskhinvali. “After noticing a mistake, pilot immediately returned to South Ossetia,” it said.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has called on Russia “to desist from amassing manpower and military assets in the occupied regions.”
“As the Ministry has stated earlier, the large-scale military maneuvers of the Russian Armed Forces ‘Kavkaz-2012’ have been purposefully rescheduled to coincide with the pre-election period in Georgia. Our concerns for subsequent risks and provocations have also proven valid,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.