Tskhinvali Denies Accusations over Arms Delivery
In a statement issued on January 20 the Foreign Ministry of breakaway South Ossetia denied Tbilisi’s accusations regarding a delivery of Russian arms to the Tskhinvali region through the Roki tunnel, describing them as “fabricated.”
Recently, a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun system and a mobile radio station belonging to the Defense Ministry forces of breakaway South Ossetia was confiscated by the Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF). The anti-aircraft system was installed in the village of Dmenisi and was found after a monitoring operation carried out by the JPKF, involving the Georgian, Ossetian and Russian peacekeepers, and OSCE observers on January 13-14.
“The allegations by the Georgian side are completely fabricated and have no real ground…However, their purpose is quite clear: to present the Republic of South Ossetia as an uncontrolled territory with a militarized regime, threatening Georgia and regional security as a whole; to discredit the Russian peacekeeping operation in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone; and to achieve the withdrawal of the[peacekeeping] contingent,” the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee quotes the de facto Foreign Ministry as saying.
The South Ossetian Foreign Ministry also said that the breakaway region takes every measure to defend its citizens, territory and air space, “however is not interested in any additional armament”.
