A bitter row erupted yesterday between Georgia and Russia, after a series of explosions on Russian gas pipelines and an electric power line left large parts of Georgia and Armenia without energy in sub-zero temperatures.

Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili accused Russia of "sabotage" and "blackmail" while Moscow called Georgia's reaction "hysteria". The explosions struck two Russian gas pipelines and an electric power line in the turbulent region of north Caucasus, destabilised by a decade-long conflict in Chechnya.