Russia rejects accusations of downing own planes in Georgia

An article in the Moscow Defence Brief magazine was highly critical of Russian forces during the short war, and claimed that Russia lost a total of six military aircraft, two more than it admitted to, BBC News writes.

But a senior Russian military official said the information contained in the report was incorrect.

Interfax news agency quoted deputy chief of the General Staff Anatoly Nogovitsyn as saying Russia had already provided full information about losses during the conflict with Georgia and there was nothing to add to this.

"Regarding insinuations that Russian air force planes were shot down by our own air defences, these also bear no relation to the truth," he added.