Georgian authorities said they foiled plans coordinated by a Ukrainian citizen to smuggle several explosive devices from Ukraine to Russia through Georgia, AFP reported.
The six devices were "brought into Georgia on January 19 from the Ukrainian city of Odesa via Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey in a minivan belonging to a Ukrainian citizen," the Georgian security service said.
They contained 14 kilograms of C-4 - a plastic explosive.
Tbilisi has been accused of increased cooperation with the Kremlin, even though Russian forces have been stationed in parts of Georgia since 2008 when Moscow invaded the Caucasian state.
Authorities confiscated three of them at the Georgian-Russian border checkpoint and found another three in the capital Tbilisi, the security service said in a statement.
Andriy Sharashidze, a Ukrainian citizen of Georgian origin, coordinated the plan, according to the statement.
Seven Georgians, three Ukrainians and two Armenians were also involved in transporting the explosive devices, but "none of them were aware of the presence of explosives" in the minivan, the statement said.
Georgia's rapprochement with Moscow has strained relations between Tbilisi and Kyiv.
Relations deteriorated further when Georgian authorities jailed pro-Western former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who holds Ukrainian citizenship.
Zelensky accused the Georgian authorities of "slowly killing Saakashvili" in detention at the behest of the Kremlin, as doctors say the politician's health has deteriorated.
In September, the Georgian government said that the deputy head of Ukraine's military counterintelligence and former deputy interior minister of Georgia, Giorgi Lortkipanidze, was plotting a coup in Georgia.
In July, Kiev ordered the Georgian ambassador to leave the country, a year after recalling its envoy from Tbilisi.
In the same month, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the leading Georgian airline, Georgian Airways, for resuming flights to Russia. /BGNES
