Russia Says Troop Withdrawal Completed

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov informed President Medvedev that Russian forces had been “pulled back from Georgian territory,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on August 22.

“The pull back was carried out without any incidents and was completed according to plan at 19:50 Moscow time (1550 GMT),” it said.

“Peacekeeping checkpoints in the security zone [which extends deep inside Georgian territory] have started carrying out tasks set for them. As a result, the Russian side has implemented the agreements reached between the presidents of Russia and France on August 12, 2008.”