Russia denies Georgian claims of ethnic cleansing
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Russia accused Georgia on Monday of manufacturing allegations of ethnic cleansing in Georgia's breakaway provinces after it failed to regain control of the areas in an abortive five-day war.
Georgia has complained to the International Court of Justice of the murder of thousands of ethnic Georgians and alleged displacement of some 300,000 people in a two-decade campaign of discrimination by Russian authorities and separatist militias in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russian, however, portrayed itself as a mediator and peacemaker, and said Georgia had never complained of ethnic discrimination until it lost the 2008 war. (AP)
