A Georgian official has claimed that Russian troops deep inside Georgian territory are stopping thousands of refugees from returning to their homes.
Russian troops were still manning checkpoints in Georgia and patrolling a Black Sea port even after Moscow pulled back much of the force it deployed to crush Georgia's attempt to take back two separatist provinces.
Moscow has since recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, drawing a storm of criticism from Western governments.
They say the Russian presence in Georgia's heartland amounts to a partial occupation.
The governor of Gori, a Georgian city occupied by Russian forces during the brief war over South Ossetia, said nearby Georgian villages were still occupied by Russian soldiers preventing residents from returning home.
‘The Russians have checkpoints and we still cannot bring these people back home. The threat of paramilitary, irregulars, looting and robbing is still very high,’ Governor Lado Vardzelashvili said.
Russia says it is within its rights under a French-brokered ceasefire to maintain peacekeepers in a buffer zone in Georgian territory bordering South Ossetia. In practice the zone covers some ethnic Georgian villages.
Human Rights Watch has called on Russia to investigate reports of burning and looting of Georgian villages by Ossetian militias.
European Union leaders will meet on Monday to formulate a response to Russia's actions in Georgia, a key energy transit route and NATO aspirant.
