Panic Follows Fake Russian Invasion on Georgian TV

MOSCOW, March 15, 2010 -- Russia slammed the Republic of Georgia's Imedi TV channel today, calling a fake weekend news segment showing a Russian invasion "irresponsible and immoral."

"The provocative TV broadcast caused quite concrete damage to the security and stability in the region and significantly increased the degree of tension in a situation that is complex even without it," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Television viewers in the Republic of Georgia were stunned Saturday night to see Russian tanks rolling into their capital of Tblisi, fighter jets streaking across the sky and the news that President Mikheil Saakashvili had been killed.

Cell phone networks crashed as family members tried to call each other, grocery store shelves were emptied and the emergency services dealt with a spate in heart attacks.

All over a spoof.

Imedi TV, one of Georgia's biggest stations, said they were attempting to show Georgians what "the worst day in Georgian history might look like."

At 8 p.m. Saturday, a time when the news is usually on, a 30-minute segment was introduced with the disclaimer that what was to follow was not real. But that was the last warning.

What followed was archived footage of the 2008 five-day war between Russia and Georgia, a conflict still fresh in the minds of citizens of both countries that have very strained relations.

Viewers who missed the disclaimer instead saw Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordering troops into battle and President Barack Obama condemning the attack.

"[Georgians] are really frustrated and really angry because they think they were cheated," Ketevan Khachidze, editor-in-chief of The Georgian Times, said in a telephone interview. "The reason why the channel broadcast the video was explained, but they don't think it was legitimate. They don't think it was worth doing such a thing."

Khachidze said that the broadcast was also aired on the radio, creating chaos on the roads. The only reason she knew that it wasn't true, she said, was thanks to her Internet connection at work.