Moscow: Russia had completed the withdrawal of its troops from the buffer zones inside Georgia, two days ahead of the scheduled October 10 deadline, set in the EU brokered peace deal.

"The last convoy of arms and military equipment crossed the border at 2200 IST. The convoy was escorted by Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) representatives," Commander of Russian peacekeeping contingent Maj-Gen Marat Kulakhmetov said yesterday in his televised statement.

Under the deal brokered last month by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, currently holding rotating EU presidency, Russia agreed to completely withdraw from undisputed parts of Georgia not later than 10 days after the EU deployed at least 200 observers in the buffer zones on the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

TV channels showed Russian military bulldozers levelling their fortifications and bunkers inside the Georgian territory and handing over the charge of the security check posts to Georgian police in presence of EU monitors, who verified that there was no radioactivity and landmines.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s amid armed conflicts that claimed thousands of lives.

Russia launched a five-day military operation to "force Georgia to accept peace" after the US-trained Georgian troops attacked breakaway South Ossetia on August 8,killing a number of Russian peacekeepers and about two thousand civilians.

In spite of widespread condemnation by the West, citing the example of Kosovo, Russia recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia on August 26 as independent states and is to deploy permanent military bases under the friendship treaties signed with them in September.

Source : PTI