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| Russia 'shot down Georgia drone' | Russia 'shot down Georgia drone' |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| A Russian fighter jet has shot down an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft over Georgia, Georgian authorities say. | A Russian fighter jet has shot down an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft over Georgia, Georgian authorities say. |
| Georgia's defence ministry told the BBC it had video footage showing a Russian MiG-29 aircraft shooting down the unarmed Georgian drone on Sunday. | Georgia's defence ministry told the BBC it had video footage showing a Russian MiG-29 aircraft shooting down the unarmed Georgian drone on Sunday. |
| A spokesman for Russia's air force told Reuters the claim was "nonsense". | A spokesman for Russia's air force told Reuters the claim was "nonsense". |
| Tensions are high between the two neighbours over Russian support for breakaway Georgian regions, and Georgian moves towards joining Nato. | Tensions are high between the two neighbours over Russian support for breakaway Georgian regions, and Georgian moves towards joining Nato. |
| The Georgian air force told Reuters news agency the video footage showed a Russian jet launching a missile at the Georgian plane as it flew over the breakaway Abkhazia region. | |
| "It's absolutely illegal for a Russian MiG-29 to be there," Col David Nairashvili, the air force commander, told Reuters. | |
| Last week, Georgia accused Russia of trying to annex the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by deciding to seek closer ties with them. | |
| Russia has said the plan is aimed at protecting the rights and legal interests of Russian citizens, who make up the majority of the population in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. | |
| Russian and UN peacekeepers have been deployed in the two republics since the early 1990s, when violence broke out as both regions tried to break free from Georgian control. | |
| Earlier this month, Nato decided not to grant Georgia's request to join its Membership Action Plan but promised it would eventually become a member of the alliance. |