The Russian Foreign Ministry said on December 9, that recent explosions in Georgia, which Tbilisi said were masterminded by a Russian army officer serving in Abkhazia, were “a provocation” and “show” staged by the Georgian authorities themselves.
 
“An ordinary show, staged by the authorities in Tbilisi could have caused a smile to sober minded people if not a report about the death of an elderly woman. First of all it indicates on unprofessional work of the Georgian special services,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said referring to an explosion on November 28 which killed a women in one of the central parts of Tbilisi.

“The world has got accustomed to reports coming from Tbilisi about ‘attempts of the Russian occupants’ to destabilize situation. These stories are becoming less and less credible.”
 
“But this latest fiction by Saakashvili’s regime has a special provocative pattern. An attempt to sow seeds of discord with our leading international partners can be traced in this recent case,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, apparently referring to the fact that one of the explosions took place about 100 meters from the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi on September 22.

“It is obvious for us, that ahead of next round of the Geneva Discussions on Transcaucasus, President of Georgia wants to attract attention to himself as the leader of ‘the most democratic and successful state’ on the post-Soviet space, which is hindered by certain ‘evil forces’ in its further development,” it said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry was apparently referring to Saakashvili’s one of the public statements in which he said in early September, that Georgia had turned into “Russia's major competitor in the post-Soviet space in terms of model of development; the major competitor in the sphere of ideology.”

The Georgian Interior Ministry said on December 7, that it arrested six people in connection to five blasts in Tbilisi and one failed attempt of explosion in western Georgia. It said that key suspects were acting under the instructions of a Russian military officer serving in breakaway Abkhazia.