( CNN ) -- Russia and South Ossetia have strongly denied news reports that a motorcade carrying the presidents of Georgia and Poland came under fire , calling the claims `` a provocation '' meant to destabilize the region . Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili , said there were `` unpredictable people '' in the area . `` This is a real provocation , '' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists on Monday . `` It is not the first time that such things have happened : First they mastermind everything themselves and then accuse the Russian or the Ossetian side . '' Eduard Kokoity , president of the breakaway region of South Ossetia , added : `` Today 's event was a deliberate provocative act of the Georgian and Polish presidents targeted at regional destabilization . '' Kokoity made his comments to the Russian news agency , Interfax . The motorcade , carrying Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Polish President Lech Kaczynski , was passing a checkpoint near Georgia 's breakaway South Ossetia region -- site of intense conflict between Russian and Georgian troops in August -- when shots were fired Sunday , according to the Georgian Interior Ministry . The motorcade was not hit and there were no injuries , the Georgian Interior Ministry said . No other shooting was reported in the area . The shots were fired from Russian-controlled territory as the motorcade passed , the ministry said . Russia 's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin denied the gunfire came from its army positions . `` This is one more instance of wishful thinking on the part of Georgia , '' he told reporters . After the incident , Saakashvili told reporters he would not have taken his Polish counterpart into danger intentionally and that the incident showed `` you are dealing with unpredictable people '' in the disputed area . Kokoity , the South Ossetian president , countered that the Polish and Georgian presidents need to answer questions whether they informed European Union monitors of their trip . Tensions have remained high in the area since fighting between Russian and Georgian troops broke out in August . Georgia launched a campaign against South Ossetia , a Russian-backed separatist territory , on August 7 . The following day , Russian tanks , troops and armored vehicles poured into South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian territory , Abkhazia , advancing into Georgian cities outside the rebel regions . The two sides blamed each other for starting the conflict and have accused each other of a variety of offenses leading up to and during the fighting , including ethnic cleansing .
Russian peacekeepers , South Ossetia deny involvement in shooting . Leaders ' motorcade was not hit , and there were no injuries . Comment: Motorcade was passing a checkpoint near South Ossetia . The shots were fired from Russian-controlled territory , ministry officials say .