MOSCOW, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- A Russian military spokesman on Tuesday denied its fighter jets had violated Georgian airspace and fired a rocket that did not explode near a village in the Caucasus nation.

    "The Russian air force jets performed no flights in that area either on Monday, during the day or evening, or this morning and in no way could violate the airspace of the neighboring state," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted an air force spokesman, AlexanderDrobyshevsky, as saying.

    Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Ustiashvili said earlier on Tuesday two Russian fighter jets on Monday evening "violated the Georgian airspace and dropped a rocket near the Tsitelubani settlement," which did not explode and caused no casualties.

    The rocket fell "several tens meters from a highway and houses of rural dwellers. Nobody has been hurt," Ustiashvili said. The village is located close to Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.

    Relations between Georgia, a former Soviet republic, and Russiahave been strained by tensions over South Ossetia and another breakaway region Abkhazia.

    The two regions broke away from Georgia's central government inthe early 1990s. Russian peacekeepers have since been deployed there.