Russian MFA: Attack on Sanakoev’s Convoy ‘Staged’

An attack on a convoy carrying Dimitri Sanakoev, head of Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration was staged, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on July 4.

“An obviously staged explosion of a vehicle of the Kurta-based pro-Georgian puppet administration took place on the Georgian-controlled territory in South Ossetia,” the statement reads. “Observers from the peacekeeping forces and OSCE were not allowed at the incident site. The blast of the vehicle was immediately exploited by Tbilisi to justify installing new illegal [police] posts in the area of the incident site.”

Three Georgian policemen, accompanying a convoy carrying Dimitri Sanakoev were injured in an attack on July 3, Georgian officials said.

The policemen were injured after their vehicle apparently hit a remote controlled explosive device in the South Ossetian conflict zone, according to the Georgian Interior Ministry. The explosion was followed by 5-10 minute exchange of gun fire between Sanakoev’s security and attackers, it said.

It was also reported that the Georgian battalion of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF) deployed additional forces and three armored personnel carriers to the areas close to the so called by-pass road, where the incident occurred. The by-pass road links the Georgian villages in the north of Tskhinvali to the rest of Georgia.

The JPKF is made up of three peacekeeping battalions from the Russian, Ossetian and Georgian sides. Formally they operate under the Russian command.

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