Conflicting Reports on Russian Pullout from Gori

Russian troops, tanks and armored vehicles started to withdraw from the town of Gori on August 19, Reuters reported quoting its correspondent at the scene.

“Today we can say that the process has started,” Igor Konashenkov, an aide to the Russian infantry commander, told Reuters at the scene.

The Georgian officials, however, have strongly denied that the pull out started.

“They [Russian forces] are just staging it to show foreign journalists as if they are starting pulling out,” Shota Utiashvili, the Georgian Interior Ministry’s spokesman, told Civil.Ge. “In fact they are returning back [to Gori].”

In the story Reuters also indicated that a group of foreign journalists were taken on a trip to Gori by the Russian side.

Meanwhile, an eyewitness on the ground told Civil.Ge in the evening on August 19 to have seen up to 25 Russian armored vehicles and couple of hundred Russian servicemen camped at the place called Cheratkhevi. The place is an unpopulated area the road to Sachkhere in the north from the major highway. Movement of Russian troops in this area was reported in previous days as well, but they had never entered to Sachkhere itself.