Vyacheslav Kovalenko, the Russian ambassador in Georgia, said “root cause” of the April 20 incident, involving downing of the Georgian drone over Abkhazia, was the fact that Georgia was conducting unauthorized flights over the conflict zone.

UN observers, who have investigated the incident, said in a conclusion released on May 26, that the drone was shot down by a fighter jet “which belonged to the Russian air forces.”

When asked to comment on this conclusion, the Russian diplomat responded: “In any story one should look for a root cause. When we know a root cause, the consequence becomes very clear. In my opinion, in this particular case the root cause is that the drone should not have flown there. It is a very troublesome zone for now.”