MOSCOW last night insisted Russia had begun the promised military pullback from Georgia amid doubts it was honouring the terms of the ceasefire signed on Saturday.
The Russian chief of general staff yesterday told reporters that Russian troops had begun their pullout from the conflict zone, though there was no independent verification of this, and Moscow has consistently declined to set a pullout timetable.
Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said: "I cannot give an exact date for the withdrawal of our troops from the conflict area yet. I can only say that we will not be leaving as fast as we came."
Explosions were heard in the Gori area of central Georgia, though there were no reports of fighting.
The White House urged a Russian withdrawal "without delay", the latest in a series of similar appeals which have had no visible impact.
A senior US official said there were no signs yet that the Russian forces had begun to leave, while Georgia claimed Russia was broadening its presence.
Giga Bokeria, the deputy foreign minister said: "Quite the opposite. They are spreading out to other regions."
Georgia also accused the Kremlin's forces of blowing up its weapons and ammunition dumps near the western town of Senaki as they withdrew.
Shota Utiashvili, an interior ministry official, said: "They are destroying everything and then pulling out of these places.
"If they call this a pull-out, then I do not understand the meaning of the word."
Another Washington source claimed Russia was moving short-range missiles into South Ossetia.
However, Russian commanders accused Georgia of wrecking a planned prisoner exchange and continuing to mount isolated sniper and sabotage attacks on its positions.
Col-Gen Nogovitsyn said: "We are aware that the Georgian side can undertake provocative actions at any moment against our troops as well as the civilians."
Russia's crushing defeat of Georgia, its first military campaign outside its borders since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, has damaged ties with Washington and raised concerns over the stability of a key oil and gas transit state.
Russia responded with overwhelming force after Georgia sent its military on 7 August to try to recapture the rebel, Moscow-backed, province of South Ossetia.
In a show of defiance, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said: "If anyone thinks that they can kill our citizens and escape unpunished, we will never allow this. If anyone tries this again, we will come out with a crushing response. We have all the necessary resources, political, economic and military."
He later flew to Vladikavkaz, near the border of the conflict zone of South Ossetia, to present medals to soldiers who took part in the ten-day operation.
The United Nations said a first-aid convoy managed to enter Gori on Sunday and that, while buildings did not appear to be badly damaged, there were "clear signs of massive looting".
The International Committee of the Red Cross complained that its president had not been given access to South Ossetia for a fact-finding mission.
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, is to visit Georgia tomorrow, after a meeting in Brussels with his Nato counterparts.
