The Russian Ministry of Defense has rejected Georgian allegations of the possible involvement of Russian peacekeepers in a shootout in the South Ossetian conflict zone late on August 1 and overnight on August 2.

Mamuka Kurashvili, a Georgian Defense Ministry official in charge of overseeing peacekeeping operations, said that the Georgian side suspected the Russian peacekeepers were engaged in the shelling of Georgian villages.

“This allegation of the Georgian side is provocative, dirty misinformation,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted R ussian MoD spokesman Alexander Drobishevsky as saying.

He said that Russian peacekeepers did not yield to provocations and showed restraint.

“The posts of Russian peacekeepers did not come under fire within past few days and there are no casualties among Russian peacekeepers,” he added.
  
The South Ossetian side reported that six people were killed and about 15 injured as a result of shelling and sniper fire directed towards Tskhinvali and nearby Ossetian villages by the Georgian side.

According to the Georgian side, which said that it was forced to return fire, seven people, including a policeman, were injured in the shelling of Georgian villages.