Russian Peacekeepers Detained in Zugdidi
At least four Russian peacekeepers were detained by Georgian law enforcement officers in the Zugdidi district on the Georgian side of the Abkhaz administrative border on June 17, Georgian officials said.
The Georgian officials said the peacekeepers were detained because of the unauthorized transportation of military hardware from Abkhazia to the Russian peacekeepers’ checkpoint in the village of Urta in the Zugdidi district.
The officials said that Fagot anti-tank missiles and unguided aircraft rockets were among the haul confiscated.
“This is a violation of all agreements,” Mamuka Kurashvili, a Georgian Ministry of Defense official in charge of overseeing peacekeeping operations in the conflict zones, told Rustavi 2 TV. “They have attempted to create a kind of base in Urta, which is a violation of agreements. We will undertake appropriate measure in future as well if there are similar cases.”
Georgian TV aired footage showing several plain clothes Georgian security officers and several patrol policemen dragging two Russian peacekeepers from their truck, forcing them onto the ground, swearing at them and then pushing them into police cars.
A Russian Defense Ministry official has confirmed that four Russian peacekeepers were detained. Initially, it was reported by the Georgian side that 14 peacekeepers had been arrested.
An aide to the commander of the Russian land forces, Igor Konashenkov, told RIA Novosti news agency that the detention of the Russian peacekeepers was a violation of existing agreements. He said that the Russian peacekeepers were transporting ammunition to a base camp in the village of Urta.
