Russia Says Georgia Pullout to Begin Monday Russia's president said troops would begin pulling out of Georgia on Monday, but made no mention of leaving the separatist province at the heart of the conflict between the countries. A defiant Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said the former Soviet republic would not relinquish South Ossetia or Abkhazia — both now overrun with Russian troops and abandoned by Georgian soldiers — as Western leaders pushed for a swift Russian withdrawal from positions it has held for days of warfare.