Georgia said on Tuesday it had shot down a Russian reconnaissance drone near the breakaway region of South Ossetia, but Russia denied the claim and accused Tbilisi of “provocation” ahead of the arrival of EU ceasefire monitors. If confirmed, the downing of the drone over Georgian territory would be the first such incident since last month when Russian forces repelled a Georgian offensive to retake South Ossetia from pro-Moscow separatists. Tasked with monitoring the fragile ceasefire, the first members of an EU observer mission arrived in Georgia ahead of the planned pullback of Russian forces from positions deep inside undisputed Georgian territory. A Reuters television reporter saw about 30 uniformed Italian monitors and two light armored vehicles arrive at Tbilisi airport, the first of at least 200 monitors due on the ground by Oct. 1. Underlining the risks, Russia said Georgia was trying to stir tensions after Tbilisi displayed what it said was a Russian drone shot down over Georgian territory on Monday. “This is the latest media provocation by Georgia with the aim of destabilising the situation in the region,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said. “The aircraft of Russia's Defense Ministry have conducted no flights in the security zone,” he said. Georgia said the drone – one metre in length and 1.5 meters wide – was downed near the town of Gori, some 30 km from the de facto border with South Ossetia “We believe it was patrolling the territory where the Baku-Supsa (oil) pipeline runs,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili. Utiashvili said it was a short-range drone capable of taking photographs and suggested it had been launched from a Russian ‘security zone' just a few kilometers north of Gori. Before last month's war, Georgia flew unmanned reconnaissance aircraft over a second breakaway region, Abkhazia.
