GORI, Georgia — Columns of hulking, smoke-belching Russian tanks rolled out of key positions deep inside Georgia Friday as Moscow declared it had pulled its forces out following the worst confrontation between the Kremlin and the West since the Soviet collapse. But the United States, France and Britain protested the withdrawal was not complete.
Georgians exulted in a new sense of freedom as the Russian troops departed.
Outside Igoeti, the closest Russians got to the capital of Tbilisi, Georgian police in a convoy of cars and pickup trucks pumped their fists and waved white-and-red national flags as they trailed behind two Russian tanks pulling out ahead of them.
“How can we not be happy? We’ve gotten what we want,” said Levan, 77, a math teacher in the strategically located central city of Gori, farther up Georgia’s main east-west highway, who would give only his first name. “We’re overjoyed to see our own police on our streets again.”
A reporter saw what may have been the last convoy of Russian armored vehicles leave Gori shortly after 5 p.m. Friday. The six vehicles drove off after soldiers fired on a disabled armored personnel carrier, perhaps not to leave any working equipment behind for the Georgians to seize.
A few hours later, Gori was empty of Russian forces.
“We are in control of the streets of the city of Gori,” Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said outside city hall.
The withdrawal came two weeks to the day after thousands of Russian soldiers roared into the former Soviet republic following an assault by Georgian forces on the capital of the separatist territory of South Ossetia. The conflict left hundreds dead, several cities destroyed and nearly 160,000 people homeless.
Russian columns left Georgia’s western Senaki military base, Gori and Igoeti, just 30 miles from Tbilisi.
But troops and armored personnel carriers stayed put in at least three positions near Senaki and the Black Sea port city of Poti, raising questions about Russia’s intentions. The Russians also said they were creating so-called security zones extending into Georgian territory to prevent future attacks.
President Bush, vacationing at his home in Texas, conferred with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and “the two agreed that Russia is not in compliance and that Russia needs to come into compliance now,” said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
“Compliance means compliance with that plan,” he said. “We haven’t seen that yet.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
