Troops Quit Administrative Headquarters in Zugdidi

Russian forces have pulled out from the buildings housing the local Georgian administration in Zugdidi, as well as from local police and special purpose unit headquarters, the Georgian media sources reported.

Troops also pulled out from the Georgia’s presidential residence in Zugdidi.

The facilities in this town, on the administrative border with Abkhazia, were seized by the Russian forces on August 11 after disarming the local police there.

Reports, however, also said that the Russian forces were maintaining checkpoints in the town and also across the administrative border with Abkhazia. Zugdidi is located in the 12-km security zone – six on the Abkhaz side of the ceasefire line and six on the Georgian side of the line – which is under the responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in the conflict zone since 1994.

Meanwhile, the Georgian media sources also reported that the Russian troops seemed to be pulling back from the Igoeti checkpoint on the major east-west highway, on the halfway between the town of Gori and Tbilisi. Seven armored vehicles, stationed at Igoeti have been seen moving in direction of Akhalgori, a small town on the eastern edge of the South Ossetian administrative border. A Russian officer at Igoeti roadblock told the Georgian journalists that troops were pulling back. Some forces, however, were still remaining at the checkpoint at the time of writing this report.

But reports also said that there was no sign of Russian withdrawal from port town of Poti and Senaki, a town in the Samegrelo region where the Georgia’s main military base in located. Both Senaki and Poti are far from the Russian peacekeeping forces’ zone of responsibility in the Abkhaz conflict zone.