Small Russian convoy leaves key Georgian city
(AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Russian soldiers board a truck following prisoners swap in Igoeti, northwest of the capital Tbilisi, Georgia, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008. Russia and Georgia exchanged prisoners of war Tuesday, a move that could bring a substantial reduction in tensions and that Georgia hopes will expedite a Russian troop withdrawal from its territory.
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The Associated Press
Published: August 19, 2008
RUISI, Georgia (AP) _ A small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles has left the strategically key Georgian city of Gori and an officer says they are headed back to Russia.
The column, which also included what appeared to be a mobile rocket-launcher, passed the village of Ruisi, outside Gori on the road to South Ossetia on Tuesday afternoon.
Col. Igor Konoshenkov, a Russian military officer on the scene, told The Associated Press that the unit was headed for South Ossetia and ultimately back to Russia.
Konoshenkov said the movement was part of the Russian pullback mandated by the cease-fire.
It requires both sides to return troops to the positions they held before the Aug. 7 outbreak of heavy fighting in South Ossetia, a Russian-backed separatist region of Georgia.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
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