Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

Russia has released two Georgian citizens accused of espionage, Georgian Prime Minister's Special Representative for Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze said at a briefing on February 5.

He said they were released several days ago, but did not specify the names of the released citizens.

"These people were detained during the period after the military conflict in August 2008. They were sentenced to eight and nine years in prison respectively," Abashidze said.

He noted that several other citizens of Georgia have also been detained in Russia on these charges. "We are working on this issue and it is very important to release them as soon as possible," Abashidze stressed.

Georgia and Russia, its giant northern neighbor, have maintained no diplomatic relations since a brief war in 2008. Tbilisi broke off relations with Moscow in August 2008 when Moscow crushed a Georgian assault to reassert control over two rebel regions -South Ossetia and Abkhazia- and later recognized the regions. Georgia announced the two unrecognized republics as occupied territories in September 2008.