TBILISI, Dec 12: Russian forces have withdrawn from a disputed village near the rebel South Ossetia region that Georgia had claimed was being occupied in violation of a ceasefire agreement, Georgian police said on Friday.

“The Russians have pulled out and Georgian police will soon be in Perevi,” interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said.

He expressed hope that the move was a signal that Russia “will finally start fulfilling the (ceasefire) agreement” but cautioned that the withdrawal was only “the beginning of a long road.” Perevi, a mainly ethnic Georgian village of about 1,100 people on the western border of South Ossetia, had been under Russian control since a five-day war in August.

Georgia had accused Russia of violating the European Union-brokered ceasefire agreement by refusing to withdraw from Perevi.

The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia welcomed the move and said it followed EU efforts to push for the withdrawal.

“We very much welcome this move. The Russian forces in South Ossetia have for a long time refused to dismantle this checkpoint.... But the insistence of the EU presidency and of the EUMM on the ground has borne fruit,” the head of the 225-member monitoring mission, Hansjorg Haber, said in a statement.

Georgia has also called for Russia to withdraw from the Akhalgori district in South Ossetia and the Kodori Gorge in Georgia’s other separatist region, Abkhazia. Both areas were under Tbilisi’s control before the war.

Georgian lawmaker Shota Malashkhia called for Russia to follow-up the move in Perevi by withdrawing from the other disputed areas.

“It is time for them to leave not only Perevi but also Akhalgori and Upper Abkhazia,” he said in remarks shown on Rustavi-2 television, using the Georgian name for the Kodori Gorge.

“The Russian president has taken on the obligation to do this but has not met it,” he said.

Russian forces had begun to withdraw from Perevi last month but were replaced by South Ossetian militia, raising fears of a confrontation in the village and prompting hundreds to flee their homes.—AFP