U.N. Says Russia Downed Drone

Georgian Craft Was Flying Over Separatist Region

MOSCOW, May 26 -- U.N. investigators concluded in a report released Monday that a Russian fighter jet almost certainly shot down a Georgian reconnaissance drone over the separatist region of Abkhazia last month. The finding supports Georgian assertions that Russia is providing military backing to rebels in the Black Sea enclave.

Russia, which denies involvement in the incident and says the drone was shot down by Abkhaz forces, maintains a peacekeeping force in Abkhazia to enforce a 1994 cease-fire agreement. The region remains a part of Georgia but has enjoyed de facto independence since routing Georgian forces in the early 1990s.

Assembled from radar records, witness statements and video footage from the drone, the U.N. report found that the fighter jet was either a MiG-29 Fulcrum or a Su-27 Flanker, neither of which Abkhazia possesses. The report also said that, after downing the drone, the fighter jet turned north and headed into Russian airspace.

"Absent compelling evidence to the contrary, this leads to the conclusion that the aircraft belonged to the Russian air force," according to the report, which was posted on the Web site of the U.N. Observer Mission in Georgia, at http://www.unomig.org. "From a strict peacekeeping perspective, therefore, the Mission considers that enforcement action by third-parties -- in this case the Russian Federation -- in the zone of conflict . . . undercuts the ceasefire and separation of forces regime."

The report also criticized Georgia for operating the drone and noted that U.N. officials had warned the government about such flights. Abkhazia's leadership had complained about a drone flying over the region in March.

The United Nations said it "informed the Georgian Ministry of Defense that it considered that a reconnaissance mission by a military aircraft, whether manned or unmanned, constituted 'military action' and therefore contravened the Moscow Agreement," as the 1994 cease-fire is formally known.

Georgian officials have said they need to conduct reconnaissance of Abkhaz military formations and movements. But the United Nations warned in its report that "however legitimate this purpose may seem to the Georgian side, it stands to reason that this kind of military intelligence-gathering is bound to be interpreted by the Abkhaz side as a precursor to a military operation, particularly in a period of tense relations between the sides."

Georgia and Abkhazia have repeatedly teetered on the brink of renewed conflict, which could lead to a wider war between Russia and Georgia. Russia accused Georgia last month of building up its forces on the border with Abkhazia, and Moscow moved troops and armor into the breakaway region in response.

The renewed tension followed a decision by Russia to step up its economic ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, another separatist region of Georgia. The Georgian government threatened to block Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization in retaliation.

The two countries have also been at odds over Georgia's desire to join the NATO alliance.

Russian officials Monday rejected the U.N. finding. "Any breach of Georgian airspace, let alone the destruction of an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, is out of the question," a Defense Ministry spokesman, Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky, told the Russian news agency Interfax.

But Georgian officials seized on the report to reiterate their assertions that Russia is not a neutral party to the conflict over Abkhazia.

"This happens to be the first time when an international organization, especially the United Nations, has, without any doubt, blamed the Russian Federation for aggression against Georgia," Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told reporters.