The fake news report aired on Georgian TV...
and apologized for its negative consequences.The Georgian government immediately moved to calm public fears caused by the report, which intended to illustrate a studio discussion on the chance of a renewed conflict.
"I can say with confidence that, on the declaration of the president, real danger, which was imagined in the transmission... does not currently exist for our country," a spokeswoman for President Mikheil Saakashvili said in the Imedi studio shortly after the broadcast.
The news item included clips of panicked residents trying to flee Tbilisi and reported that there was panic in Gori, Mtskheta and other regions.
The staged images and words rung true, however, when viewers who did not see the introduction took the report at face value. People from all over the country began to call each other and the TV studio to find out what was really happening.
Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Russia recognized as independent in August
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