Russian troops have started pulling back from the Georgian town of Gori which links South Ossetia with Tblisi, Russia's Defense Ministry says.
Russian troops were reported to be still stationed at a checkpoint some six kilometers (3.7 miles) outside the central Georgian city of Gori on Thursday morning, Interfax reported.
On Wednesday, they built a guard post on a hill outside Igoeti, almost 50 km (30 miles) from Tbilisi, and a large Russian military convoy moved close to the western city of Senaki.
The announcement by the Russian defense officials comes amid skepticism expressed by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili who said that he did not believe Russia would soon withdraw from most of his country.
He said Moscow was thinning out its military presence in some of the towns it occupied, but at the same time seizing new territories in the former Soviet republic.
