In pictures: Russia pulls out of Georgia

Russian combat troops have been continuing to withdraw from Georgia, although Moscow says it intends to maintain a presence in the country, including control of a strategic highway and airbase.

A Russian commander said some 2,000 troops, with armoured vehicles and helicopters, would be stationed in a "zone of responsibility" around the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

On the ground, the BBC has seen what appears to be a significant Russian troop movement out of Georgia to South Ossetia. Hundreds of armoured vehicles have been seen to be on the move.

In the town of Igoeti, 35km (21 miles) from the capital Tbilisi, buses of Georgian police have meanwhile been arriving to take control after Russian troops dismantled their roadblocks and pulled out.

Warships from the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which were deployed off the Georgian coastline near Abkhazia, have been welcomed back to their base by pro-Russian Ukrainians at the port of Sevastopol.

The conflict between Russia and Georgia began on 7 August after Tbilisi tried to retake the Moscow-backed breakaway province of South Ossetia following days of clashes with separatists there.

The fighting ended with an EU-brokered ceasefire deal, and a promise by Russia to pull back its forces. The war has left Georgia's infrastructure in tatters and it seeking up $2bn in reconstruction aid.