Shelling of villages in upper Kodori Gorge was “a well-planned provocation aimed against Georgia’s unity and territorial integrity,” Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said on March 12.

“Army helicopters equipped with night-vision crossed into Georgian airspace late yesterday… They entered into Georgia from the Russian Federation, and naturally we now expect answers from the Russian Federation about what happened yesterday in Abkhazia,” she said.

Burjanadze also said that Georgia spares no effort to maintain peace and stability, “but we will not let anyone to pose a threat to the security of our population.”

She also said that Georgian Interior Ministry forces in upper Kodori Gorge have been ordered “not to yield to provocations.”

The administration of the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues said in a statement on March 12 that MI-24 and MI-8 helicopters entered into the Georgian airspace at about 10:30 am local time on March 11 and shelled villages in the upper Kodori Gorge.

“It was a military provocation carried out by a foreign country on the territory of Georgia against a peaceful population, with a clear goal to halt the peace process,” the statement reads.