"Information has arrived from South Ossetia on new alarming facts indicating that Georgia is still steering the course towards a serious destabilisation in the region. On Wednesday, in the area of the Ossetian Sarabuk village 10 to 12 kilometres away from Tskhinvali, the Russian delegation led by Andrei Kokoshin, chairman of the State Duma committee for CIS and contacts with compatriots, got under fire from the Georgian side", reads the communique of the Press and Information Board of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian foreign policy establishment draws attention to the fact that the delegation arrived at South Ossetia from Tbilisi, where it had meetings and talks with Georgian officials. "They had been notified beforehand of the route of the further movements of the Russian representatives", the ministry stresses.
"Noteworthily, the shooting at the delegation happened when, in the company of Russian and Georgian peacekeepers, it was making for a place where Georgian military formations, illegally brought to the conflict zone, were found", the communique reads on.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stresses "it is not merely another violation by the Georgian side of all the existing agreements regarding the settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict".
"This time, a direct encroachment on the security of Russian top representatives has been committed. One of the main goals of their visit to Georgia was to promote the easing of tensions in the region", the Russian Foreign Ministry believes.
"Declaring the protest, we invite the Georgian authorities immediately to carry out investigation, find and punish the performers of the anti-Russian provocation", the communique reads.
The Russian Foreign Ministry believes it necessary to "stop those seeking to plunge Georgia into a new confrontation, fraught with far-reaching consequences".
