Georgia Accuses Russia of Air Raid
Georgia has accused Russia of firing a rocket near the breakaway region of South Ossetia on Tuesday. The rocket was fired by a Su-24 bomber manufactured by Russia which Georgian officials claim violated their airspace from the Russian side. The rocket was a Kh-58 tactical anti-radiation missile that had been produced by Raduga, a Russian company.
The missile landed near a village on the edge of the South Ossetian conflict zone where there are conflicts between Georgia and pro-Russian rebels. It was 15.75 feet long with a diameter of .38 meters and weighed 1410 pounds and had 140 kilos of TNT explosives in it. The rocket did not explode and there were no injuries. Moscow has claimed that Georgia staged the attack in order to disrupt the peace talks currently going on with South Ossetian rebels.
Witnesses said they saw two planes approach, and then one dived and dropped something. There have been television broadcasts showing a small crater near the village of Tsitelubani where there were also pieces of a rocket scattered around with Russian Cyrillic lettering on it.
Georgia was part of the former Soviet Union until 1991 and has tried to maintain independence since then. Russia recognizes the Georgian borders but has maintained contact with rebels in the area. Russian-dominated forces are helping keep the peace in the region.
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