| Russian forces 'begin pullout' |
Published By: Mathew White
On Thursday 21 August 2008 |
Russian forces have begun to withdrawn from central Georgia, according to reports.
The Defence Ministry in Moscow said it was the start of a pullback of forces.
In the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali there have been reports of dozens of tanks and armoured personnel carriers arriving in the town from the south.
A Russian news agency said the column was heading north towards the Russian border.
The Kremlin had promised to pull back Russian forces from core areas of Georgia by Friday under a French-brokered ceasefire plan, but until early Thursday there had been no sign of significant troop movements.
But the news agency withdrew an earlier reference to a pullback from the key town of Gori.
On Wednesday, the US accused Russia of dragging its feet, saying the size and pace of the pullout had been insignificant and needed to increase.
The West fears Moscow may use ambiguities in a ceasefire deal and previous agreements to keep large numbers of extra troops in and around rebel South Ossetia to step up economic and political pressure on Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
The crisis erupted on August 7-8 when Georgia, which has a border with Russia, tried to retake South Ossetia, a pro-Moscow region which broke with Tbilisi in 1992.
Russian forces hit back, thrusting beyond the region into the Georgian heartland, overrunning the army in fierce fighting.
Moscow has not committed so far to returning all of its troop reinforcements to their bases, as foreseen in the six-point peace plan.
Russia said it had lost 64 military dead in the conflict, while Georgia announced 215 dead, including 69 civilians.
Russia previously said 1,600 South Ossetian civilians died after Georgia attacked the province. This figure has not been independently verified.
