Georgia's minister for reintegration, Temuri Yakobashvili, told the country's parliament on Friday that Russian troops held an operation in Tskhinvali on Thursday and arrested several individuals.
"This is totally deceptive information," South Ossetia's Internal Minister Valery Valiyev told RIA Novosti. "There have been no joint or no individual special operations. Everything is completely quiet and stable."
According to Yakobashvili, people "could hear shots being fired and helicopters flying over [Tskhinvali]." He also said that those who were "arrested were put on buses and sent in the direction of ...North Ossetia."
Georgian Parliament Vice-Speaker Paata Davitaya confirmed Yakobashvili's statements, saying that the Russians "were taking people out of the occupied territory" of South Ossetia.
Valiyev called the Georgian accusations provocative and emphasized that there were no shots fired in South Ossetia on Thursday. He also denied that South Ossetian residents were being bussed into Russia.
Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another Georgian separatist republic, as independent states on August 26 last year, two weeks after the end of a five-day conflict sparked by a Georgian military attack on South Ossetia.
Most of the people living in South Ossetia and Abkhazia are Russian passport holders, and Russia has agreed to unify its transportation, energy and communications infrastructure with the republics.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia have so far only been recognized by Russia and Nicaragua. Belarus has said it may recognize the breakaway regions in the future, and Venezuela has voiced support for Russia's move.
