AKIPRESS.COM - Protesters have attempted to storm Georgia's parliament during a mass rally against a speech inside the chamber by a Russian lawmaker, BBC reports.

Riot police stopped them from entering the building, reportedly using tear gas and rubber bullets.

Tensions flared up when Sergei Gavrilov addressed an assembly of MPs from Orthodox Christian countries from the seat of the speaker.

Russia and Georgia have fought over two breakaway Georgian regions.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia were occupied by Russia in 2008.

Moscow recognises them as independent states and Russian troops have remained there since.

Thursday's protests left 39 police officers and 30 protesters in hospital with injuries, according to an advisor to Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze quoted by the AFP news agency.