19 August 2008, 11:16
Russian Joint Staff: withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia will be situation-dependant
General-Colonel Anatoly Nogovitsyn, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of Russian Armed Forces, has stated today that the troops' withdrawal schedule away from the conflict zone in Georgia "will depend on the situation."
The Joint Staff leader has added that Russian troops' withdrawal is hampered by "the absence of any Georgia's control over its armed formations."
According to Mr Nogovitsyn, Russia continues withdrawing its troops from the South-Ossetian conflict zone. He said that after August 22 the withdrawal would intensify. As he said, first of all the combat service support units and heavy armoured machines are withdrawn, the IA "News-Georgia" reports.
The Reuters' correspondent reports from the venue that today Russian troops, tanks and combat machines have started to leave Gori. According to the correspondent, four Russian infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), several tanks and trucks with infantry gave a blank volley and started their way in direction to South Ossetia.
Shota Utiashvili, head of the information-analytical department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, has stated today that Russian militaries had detained about 20 Georgian servicemen in the Poti Port. As he said, the Georgian party is unaware of the reasons of the detainment.
The Georgian TV Companies also report with reference to eyewitnesses that Russian militaries try to inflict maximal damage to the port infrastructure.
