TODAY: Lavrov in Abkhazia, Nato in Georgia; Moldovan separatists heartened by Moscow’s position on Georgia’s breakaway regions; Aeroflot crash kills all passengers; journalists under scrutiny; refreshing Russia’s contemporary art. Georgia has responded angrily to Russia’s decision to send its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on a supportive visit to Abkhazia. Lavrov’s visit coincides with the arrival of Nato envoys in Georgia in a similar show of support. Medvedev has described Nato’s invitation of membership to Georgia, extended last April, as ‘unjust’, and compared the Georgian attack on South Ossetia to 9/11. Separatists in Trans-Dniester, a breakaway region in Russia’s Moldova, ‘have taken heart from Moscow’s recognition of Georgia’s rebel regions’. One consequence of the Georgian war is an intensified focus on journalists ‘who work near the boundaries of what the Kremlin tolerates’, including an investigation into radio station Echo Moskvy. The Georgian Security Chief says that Russia has fulfilled its commitment to pull troops from the country.