United Nations News Centre

27 May 2008 – The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) has concluded in a report that a Georgian reconnaissance drone aircraft that crashed in Abkhazia last month was shot down by the Russian air force.

UNOMIG carried out an investigation after receiving a report on the downing of an unmanned surveillance aircraft on 20 April, and brought together a team of specialists who examined eyewitness, radar and video evidence to establish what had happened, concluding that the drone had been downed by a Russian fighter jet.

The report stresses that, under the Moscow Agreement, only Commonwealth of Independent States peacekeeping forces are permitted to keep Georgian and Abkhaz forces apart.

�From a strict peacekeeping perspective, therefore� the report continues, �the Mission considers that enforcement action by third-parties � in this case the Russian Federation - in the zone of conflict is fundamentally inconsistent with the Moscow Agreement.�

However, the mission reiterated its position that the overflight of the zone of conflict by Georgian surveillance aircraft also constituted a breach of the Moscow Agreement.

Last month, the Security Council, in a resolution extending the mandate of UNOMIG until 15 October, called on �all parties to consider and address seriously each other�s legitimate security concerns, to refrain from any acts of violence or provocation, including political action or rhetoric, and to comply fully with previous agreements regarding ceasefire and non-use of violence.�

UNOMIG was established in 1993 to verify compliance with a cessation of hostilities and separation of forces accord following the armed conflict between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides.