Georgia Accuses Russia

Date: March 11, 2007 • Location: Tqvarch'eli, Georgia

Georgian authorities accused Russia of orchestrating a helicopter attack in the Kodori Valley, in the breakaway territory of Abkhazia.

On 11 March 2007, three military helicopters attacked the village of Chkhalta in Abkhazia, a breakaway republic in north-western Georgia. The village lies in the Kodori Gorge, at the time the only portion of Abkhazia still under Georgian control. Georgia accused Russia of being behind the attack, which damaged a school and the government headquarters of the Georgian-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile. Russia denied the accusations and said all its aircraft near the area were grounded over the weekend.