Abkhaz rebels shot down Georgian spy plane: Russia

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia's foreign ministry on Tuesday said that Abkhaz rebels were responsible for shooting down a Georgian unmanned spy plane over the weekend.

"It was shot down by Abkhaz anti-aircraft weapons," the ministry said in a statement issued in response to Georgia's accusation that a Russian fighter airplane destroyed the drone on Sunday.

The statement said that the drone's flight "was a violation" of a 1994 peace agreement ending the fighting in the breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia.

Wreckage showed that the drone was an Israeli-made Hermes 450, the statement said.

"According ...