TBILISI - GEORGIA on Tuesday said there were still no signs of Russia withdrawing its troops from deep inside the country, as Russian forces continued to control entry into the city of Gori.
'There is still no sign of a withdrawal, nothing at all,' Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told AFP.
Mr Utiashvili said there had been no significant Russian troop movements overnight and that they remained entrenched in previous positions, including in and around the flashpoint city of Gori.
Russia on Monday announced the start of its withdrawal from Georgia, but Tbilisi accused Moscow of stalling and seeking to spread further into the country.
Russian soldiers were still preventing access into Gori, just 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of Tbilisi. Four tanks were also present at the checkpoint, an AFP correspondent reported.
'I really do not know how long we will be staying here,' said one of the soldiers, who declined to give his name.
The Russian soldiers were bearing the insignia of 'peacekeepers' on their uniforms.
Tanks were also in evidence on the road to Gori from Igoeti, 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Tbilisi. Russian checkpoints on the road had also been reinforced with concrete blocks.
Russian forces pushed deep into Georgian territory after crushing the country's army in the Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia, which Georgia attempted to retake in an assault on Aug 7.
The troops also entered the west of Georgia through Abkhazia, another pro-Moscow separatist region.
There was considerable movement by the Russian military in the region on Tuesday, both towards the south and the north.
Seven Russian armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and 12 military trucks crossed north over the administrative border into Abkhazia late morning, an AFP correspondent in the village of Rukhi reported.
However shortly before, a convoy of three Russian APCs and 30 trucks had entered into Georgian-controlled territory from the same point. -- AFP
