By Mike Scollon

RFE/RL Georgian Service correspondent Goga Aptsiauri reports that, as of 3:30 p.m. local time, all Russian checkpoints had been removed from Gori, located just south of the de facto border with the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

"At this moment, I can tell you that not a single Russian soldier or piece of military hardware remains in the town of Gori," Aptsiauri said. "Some two hours ago, they started their withdrawal from checkpoints that were set up on nearby mountains. Then, around half an hour ago, the last checkpoint was removed in Gori, too."

The head of Georgia's National Security Council, Alexandre Lomaia, has confirmed that Russian troops have left Gori and are also pulling out from surrounding areas. Twenty Russian military vehicles carrying hundreds of troops were observed heading north from Gori toward South Ossetia.

Withdrawals were also reported from Igoeti, a town just 30 kilometers from the Georgian capital, where a Russian checkpoint was set up.

'No Need For War'

A Russian officer and two Russian soldiers spoke to Reuters en route from Gori to Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital.

"Yes, it's over, we're leaving, with all the equipment," the officer said. "In short, [we're going] home. Peace to all countries. What else can I say? There's no need for war. There should be friendship."

"We're from Chechnya. We're stationed in Chechnya," said one soldier. "We're going to Tskhinvali now."

"We go where we're ordered to go," the other soldier said. "We're just doing our bit, we're following orders. We're leaving here now."

Koba Liklikadze, an RFE/RL Georgian Service correspondent who has been reporting from the region, said he counted more than 200 Russian military vehicles beginning their withdrawal along Georgia's main east-west highway between Igoeti and Gori.

Citing a Russian military officer manning a checkpoint in the nearby Khurvaleti, Liklikadze said the withdrawal may proceed slowly because of bottlenecks at the tunnel separating North and South Ossetia.

"The officer explained the situation this way: At the Roki Tunnel, 150 officers of the FSB [Russia's Federal Security Service] are searching the columns of vehicles very thoroughly, and it takes a lot of time," Liklikadze said. "They're doing this in order to make sure that the soldiers don't take any looted goods or weapons or maybe even money that don't belong to them. So everyone is being checked, and as the officer said, that is why this process of withdrawal has dragged on for so long."

Abkhaz Pullout Reported

Russian troops were also reported to be pulling out from the territory near Georgia's border with its second breakaway region, Abkhazia -- including Zugdidi, the largest city in the region.

There are signs, however, that Russian forces remain in the Black Sea port city of Poti and the strategic rail junction of Senaki.

Adding to the confusion over the Russian withdrawal is Moscow's insistence that hundreds of peacekeeping forces will remain in a buffer zone that extends into Georgia proper.

The deputy head of Russia's General Staff, Colonel General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, during a news briefing in Moscow on August 22, said Russia plans to maintain numerous surveillance posts within the so-called "zones of responsibility."

"In order to stop groups of looters and prevent the delivery of unaccounted for weapons and ammunition," Nogovitsyn said, "18 peacekeeping surveillance posts have been set up along the administrative border between Georgia and South Ossetia."

Nogovitsyn explained that the peacekeeping boundary near the South Ossetia conflict zone is a jagged line that at points traverses Georgia's de facto border with its breakaway region.

Nogovitsyn also reported Georgian troop activity.

"Units of the Georgian armed forces are concentrating in central Georgia, restoring their combat capability, and preparing for further actions," he said. "[Georgian forces] are carrying out reconnaissance into the character and direction of the actions of Russian troops and South Ossetian formations, and are preparing military actions in the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict zone."

Maps Of Buffer Zone

Moscow's envoy to the United Nations has said the withdrawal will be completed by the evening of August 22, while a top military official indicated that ground troops would be back on Russian soil in around 10 days.

Aptsiauri, RFE/RL's correspondent in Gori, was able to look at maps of the proposed buffer zone. He gave this account of how Russian General Vyacheslav Borisov, commander of Russian forces in the Gori region, interprets the terms of withdrawal.

"Yesterday [August 21], General Borisov had a fairly heated discussion with [Gori regional Governor Vladimer] Vardzelashvili about the so-called buffer zone. Borisov had all kinds of maps out, and was referring to the 1992 [cease-fire] agreement, which stipulates that the conflict zone included quite a lot of villages north of Gori in Gori district -- including two villages that are located along the main east-west highway, Shavshvebi and Agara," Aptsiauri said. "So if we go with that agreement, it would mean that the so-called peacekeepers who would replace the regular Russian troops will have the right to control the main highway, and even establish checkpoints."

Outside Abkhazia, it is unclear whether the Russians will argue that the key Georgian cities of Poti and Senaki will fall inside any security zone.

"As far as I know, Senaki would not be [in any buffer zone]," says Lawrence Sheets, a Tbilisi-based analyst and Caucasus program director for the International Crisis Group. "Senaki is about 40 kilometers away from the border with Abkhazia. There is, I believe, a 14-kilometer zone on either side of the administrative border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia. The Russians definitely have the right to patrol that area under the old agreements. Senaki is way away from there. What the Russians are saying is that it falls into the 'zone of responsibility' of the peacekeepers. I haven't heard them refer to a specific document that gives them the right to stay in Senaki or Poti."

'Open To Debate'

Sheets also noted the legal status of the Russian peacekeeping force working under the aegis of the Commonwealth of Independent States is "open to debate," considering Georgia's withdrawal from the organization last week.

The port town of Poti, in particular, is viewed as a potential entry point for humanitarian aid destined for the region and an indicator of Moscow's commitment to withdraw.

Rob Parsons, a journalist who reported from Georgia for the BBC and France 24 after fighting between Russia and Georgia broke out, says the speed with which aid enters Georgia is a key question.

He said from Paris on August 22 that "there is going to be a huge need for Western aid when the Russians finally do ship out. And it looks like it is going to come." And he indicated that Georgia's recovery effort, and that of its government, will largely depend on such deliveries.

"If [the aid] comes fast, if it is significant, then I think [President Mikheil] Saakashvili may be able to turn around and say, 'Look, this was always coming anyway. There was no escaping it, a clash with Russia over South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Now it's come and in many respects we've emerged stronger. We've got a genuine commitment from the West, our chances of joining NATO are accelerated, Russia has been forced to withdraw, and the economy will continue to grow,' Parsons said. "If he can say all those things, then he's in a stronger position. But a lot will depend on the speed and quantity of the aid."

RFE/RL's Georgian Service and RF/RL correspondent Brian Whitmore contributed to this report

Copyright (c) 2008. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.