Russia is not aware of details of reported arrest by Georgia twenty of its citizens on suspicion of spying for Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said on October 30.
"As far as I know, we are talking about the Georgian citizens. We do not know anything but that,” Lavrov, who is Hanoi, was quoted by the Russian news agencies.
News about the arrest of alleged spies in Georgia was reported by Reuters on Friday evening, citing unnamed Georgian security sources. The Georgian Interior Ministry declines to confirm or deny the report and no official comment on the matter is expected until next week.
The Russian daily, Kommersant, reported quoting a Russian Foreign Ministry representative: "We have seen reports about alleged arrest of spies. But as far as there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries because of Tbilisi’s initiative, it is impossible for us to promptly find out what has happened. What is important and to what we have paid our attention is that the Georgian citizens are mentioned; so one should address the Georgian authorities for clarification.”
According to the Reuter’s report all the detainees are suspected of creating a spy network in Georgia and delivering secret information to Russia. It was reported in the Georgian media sources on October 30, that the detainees are also suspected of gathering sensitive information about procurements by the Interior Ministry and Ministry of Defense.