Russia flew roughly 80 embassy employees and their relatives out of Georgia on 29 September 2006, after Georgian authorities detained four Russian military officers on charges of espionage at military sites. A Tbilisi court ordered two of the officers held for an additional two months while the investigation continues.
Moscow condemned the arrests, demanded the officers' release, and pressed the UN Security Council to intervene. Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin accused Georgia of serious provocations, while Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili insisted that Russian citizens faced no security threat in the country.
Georgia's interior minister accused Russia of increasing military activity near the sea border, while Russian ambassador Vyacheslav Kovalenko said additional personnel would be withdrawn from a base in Batumi on the Black Sea coast.
NATO defense ministers, meeting in Slovenia, urged both sides to reduce tensions. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld described the confrontation as a matter of concern. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, also present, blamed Georgia for pursuing a military path in the disputed regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The crisis unfolded against a backdrop of deteriorating relations since Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution and a recent NATO announcement of intensified dialogue with Tbilisi regarding possible alliance membership.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.