BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday slammed the fatal shooting of a Georgian civilian by Russian troops near the breakaway South Ossetia region, controlled by Moscow since its 2008 invasion.

“The EU strongly condemns the killing of a Georgian citizen and the detention of another one by the Russian border guards in Kirbali. We call for an immediate release,” EU foreign policy Josep Borrell posted on social media.

“Russian military presence in the Georgian occupied breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is illegal,” he said.

Georgia said Monday that Russian troops had killed the civilian and abducted a second, in an incident confirmed by an EU monitoring mission on the ground.

Local residents told independent Pirveli TV station that the victim was a 58-year-old man who was shot at by Russian soldiers when he, along with several other villagers, went to pray in a church to which Russian soldiers had denied Georgians access earlier this year.

Asked about the incident, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday: “I do not have any information about that.”

South Ossetia has been under Russia’s effective control since the brief 2008 war after which the Kremlin recognised it as an independent state.

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Detentions of Georgian villagers by Russian troops – who patrol the boundary between the separatist region and Tbilisi-controlled Georgia – have sparked international condemnation.

Russia invaded Georgia in August 2008 after Tbilisi launched a large-scale military offensive against South Ossetian militia who were shelling Georgian villages.

Moscow at the time bombed targets across the Black Sea nation and occupied swathes of the country’s territory during the hostilities that saw Georgia’s small army routed in just five days.

Moscow then recognised South Ossetia – along with another separatist region, Abkhazia – as independent and stationed permanent military bases there.

The latest incident comes at a time of heightened tension between Russia and the West caused by Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Georgia has stepped up its bid to become a member of the EU.

The country is hoping the bloc’s executive will recommend making it an official candidate to join in a report released by Brussels on Wednesday.