TBILISI -- Georgia has officially expressed "shock and deep concern" over a deadly shooting along the administrative boundary with the Russian-controlled, breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said on May 20 that a 31-year-old Georgian citizen, Giga Otkhozoria, was shot dead by Russian troops patrolling areas near the boundary.

The ministry said eyewitnesses reported that Otkhozoria was shot six times while on the Georgian-controlled side of the boundary.

The ministry also stated that Tbilisi will use all legal and political mechanisms to ensure that people responsible for the killing are brought to justice.

Russian troops were deployed to Abkhazia and Georgia's other breakaway region, South Ossetia, after Moscow recognized the two regions' independence following a multiday war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008.

With reporting by agenda.ge

