Georgia accuses Russia of moving border

MOSCOW, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Georgian leaders have accused Russia of attempting to take a sliver of Georgian territory along the boundary of South Ossetia.

Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said Sunday Russian reconnaissance teams entered the town of Kveshi in the disputed region to try to move the boundary, The New York Times reported Monday.

The breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia were the scenes of last year's five-day war between Georgian and Russian troops.

South Ossetia last week reported mortar fire from Georgian-controlled territory, prompting Russia's Defense Ministry Saturday to say it was prepared to protect the region, the Times said.

The European Union mission released a statement Saturday saying its patrols "have seen no evidence to confirm that any firing has taken place toward Tskhinvali or its surroundings."

Meanwhile, more than 2,500 lawsuits have been filed in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France and with the U.N. International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, by South Ossetia residents, Russia's news agency RIA Novosti reported.

South Ossetian Foreign Minister Murat Dzhioyev told the news agency Monday the lawsuits were filed concerning Georgian aggression the region last August.

"After the Georgian attacks on the republic of South Ossetia, more than 2,500 residents, who lost family, friends and property, have filed lawsuits in international courts against the Georgian government," Dzhioyev said.

South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity last week demanded Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili be tried as a war criminal for ordering the attack on Tskhinvali.