Georgia Says Tbilisi Airport Bombed

The Georgian government said Russian aircraft bombed Tbilisi’s civilian airport at 7pm local time on August 10.

“The attack occurred several hours after Georgia offered a formal ceasefire to Russia, via Russia’s ambassador to Georgia, and declared Georgia’s readiness to immediately start negotiations with the Russian Federation on the termination of hostilities,” the governemnt’s statement said.

Alexander Lomaia, the secretary of the National Security Council, said the attack on Tbilisi “offers further evidence that Russia’s invasion of Georgia is not about Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”

“The goal of the Russian Federation – which today also blockaded our Black Sea ports and is relentlessly bombing civilian sites throughout the country – is to overthrow the democratically elected government of this small European nation,” Lomaia said.

Tbilisi-based radio station Fortuna FM reported earlier, quoting airport authorities, that a bomb had been dropped a few kilometers from the airport.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has denied that the airport in Tbilisi was bombed, saying it was “misinformation.”