Title: Russia Stages Substantial Withdrawal
Time/date: Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 11:38:07 am

The Russian military has withdrawn a large part of its occupying forces in Georgia, in an apparent step back from the brink of a wider conflict.

GORI, Georgia, Aug. 22 — Russia pulled troops and armored vehicles out of vast swaths of seized territory and ended its 10-day occupation of this Georgian city Friday, but Georgian and foreign officials disputed Russia’s claim that it had complied with the terms of a recent cease-fire agreement.

Columns of Russian trucks, tanks and artillery pieces rumbled north throughout the day toward the breakaway territories whose disputed status sparked the current crisis. Just before leaving Gori at 8 p.m., Russian forces detonated giant explosions on various Georgian armories and military installations that spewed flames and black smoke into the sky.

The Russian withdrawal was a major step toward ending the slow-burning conflict that ignited into full-scale war Aug. 7 when the Georgian army invaded South Ossetia. Russian forces responded swiftly and sharply, seizing as much as a third of Georgian land.