TBILISI, DFWatch – A suspected explosive device was reported to have been found outside Russia’s consulate in Tbilisi Wednesday.

However, it turned out to be just an empty suitcase, according to Interior Ministry spokesperson Shotia Utiashvili.

The suspicious object was reported by government-friendly Real TV in the early evening. DFWatch went there and spoke to a security guard at the embassy, who said the suspicious object was a black suitcase.

“Police arrived and placed a round metal thing over the case and the object exploded under it,” the security guard told DFWatch.

Nerves have been a bit on edge in Tbilisi after a bomb was found early Monday morning under the private car of the driver for Israel’s ambassador to Georgia. No-one was injured here, but the same day, a bomb exploded in an Israeli embassy employee’s car in New Dehli, injuring four people.

However, bomb scares are not unusual in Tbilisi. A case was found in a shopping center January 20; on January 30, an object was found in front of the Labour party’s offices; and February 2, a suspicious bag was found on Queen Tamar Bridge, but they all turned out to be harmless.

Georgia broke diplomatic relations with Russia after the war in 2008. Since then, Russia has been represented in Georgia by Switzerland. Physically, the Russian consul is located in the same building as where the embassy used to be, and it is known locally as “the Russian embassy”, although technically it is the Swiss embassy’s section for Russian interests.