Georgia mounts new claims against Russia

Georgia said Wednesday that an aircraft from Russia violated its airspace Tuesday, raising tension just weeks after the former Soviet republic claimed a plane from Russia dropped a missile on its territory.

Georgia demanded an explanation from Moscow, which denied the new accusation.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said the country's air defense system tracked an aircraft that traveled three miles into Georgian airspace near a separatist enclave. It said the incursion lasted three minutes.

In a statement, the ministry said it had sent a protest note to its Russian counterpart "demanding immediate and clear explanations."

Russian air force spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky said no Russian plane had violated Georgia's airspace, the state-run RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

Relations between Georgia and Russia have been strained in recent years as Georgia's leadership seeks to shed centuries of Russian influence and to cultivate ties with the United States, NATO and the European Union.

They were further damaged when Georgia said a Russian Su-24 jet entered the country's airspace on Aug. 6 and dropped a missile. The missile did not explode and no one was hurt.

Russia also denied that accusation.

Russia and Georgia are at odds over issues including two separatist regions in Georgia _ Abkhazia and South Ossetia _ that Tbilisi says Moscow uses to destabilize the smaller nation.

The field where Georgia says the missile landed about two weeks ago is near South Ossetia. The alleged incursion Tuesday was in a Georgian-controlled but volatile part of Abkhazia.