Pakistan isn't the only place where drones are causing controversy. In the separatist republic of Abkhazia, local officials are accusing the Georgian government of intruding on their airspace with unmanned aircraft.
Vasily Malayev, the head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) border force in Abkhazia, was quoted by Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency as saying that Georgian drones had crossed into Abkhaz territory "more than 40 times" since last May. More than two dozen weapons caches had also been discovered in Abkhazia, Malayev added, though he did not give any specifics about how, exactly, the weapons got there.
So, is this something to worry about? For starters, Abkhazia's claims to sovereign airspace are pretty tenuous: The region broke away from Georgia after a civil war in 1992-1993, but only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru recognize the state's independence. And Russia effectively props up the secessionist territory: Russia's FSB, for instance, helps control the boundary between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia.
Still, Abkhazia is a potential flashpoint, and Russian/Abkhaz claims about airspace violations by Georgian drones preceded the escalation of conflict before. A few months before the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, a Russian fighter aircraft shot down a Georgian drone over the Black Sea. The incident was captured by the drone's high-resolution camera, and a UN investigation concluded that Russia was indeed to blame for the shoot-down.
See Also:
- Video: Russian MiG Shoots Georgian Drone
- Drone Wars, Part II: Abkhaz Claim Another Shootdown
- Russians in the Market for Israeli Drones
- How Israel Trained and Equipped Georgia's Army
- Russia Claims Georgia in Arms Build Up
- Russia's 'Full Scale Invasion' of Georgia
- Georgia, NATO Network Radars in Electronic Alliance
- Did the U.S. Prep Georgia for War with Russia?
