MOSCOW. Sept 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Air Force denied an allegation by the Georgian defense minister that two Russian airplanes on Sunday illegally entered Georgian air space in the vicinity of the Chechen border.
"Russian aircraft were carrying out topographic photographing in the vicinity of the Russian-Georgian border and did not violate Georgian air space," Air Force Commander in Chief Vladimir Mikhailov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Quite recently, the Georgian side was informed along the channels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation that Russian planes would carry out topographic photographing in the vicinity of the border," he said.
"The planes were carrying out their flights at a high altitude, and only proper devices could have detected their route," he added.
Earlier, Colonel Kornely Salia, chief of staff of the Georgian border guard, said two "unidentified aircraft" had crossed the Chechen border into Georgian air space "and, having stayed for a while, went back."
"The movement of those craft was recorded by radar systems," he told Interfax.
Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze confirmed that two planes had invaded the country's air space but identified them as Russian.
"An appropriate reaction to the violation of Georgian air space will be made along diplomatic channels," he told reporters.