Russia has placed short range SS-21 missiles in South Ossetia, that could pose a threat to most major Georgian cities,” including the capital, Tbilisi, a U.S.Defense official confirmed to FOX News on Monday.

“Anything such as that, or any other military equipment that was moved in would be in violation of this cease-fire and should be removed immediately,” Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman said. “The only forces that are permitted to remain under the cease fire agreement are the forces that were in there at the Aug. 6 time frame.”

This news came as Russia’s deputy chief of staff insists that Russian troops were pulling out of the breakaway region. However, there have been no confirmed signs of a withdrawal.

Russia’s deputy chief of staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn told a briefing in Moscow that “today, according to the peace plan, the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers and reinforcements has begun” and said forces were leaving Gori.

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• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

However in Gori, Russian forces seemed to be solidifying their positions and the only movement seen by Associated Press reporters was in the opposite direction from Russia — toward the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, 55 miles to the east.

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