Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Georgia said Russian troops are advancing, rejecting a statement from the Kremlin that they began withdrawing today.

``I can confirm right now is that as we speak, Russian forces are heading deeper into Georgian territory from the central city of Khashuri,'' Eka Zhguladze, Georgia's Deputy Interior Minister, said in a telephone interview.

Speaking after the Russian statement at about 2:15 p.m. Moscow time, she said that a Russian armored column was moving south to the city of Borjomi, and another was moving to the city of Sachkhere. Georgia is also suffering from unexplained forest fires, she added.

Russia has started withdrawing its troops from Georgia, a Defense Ministry official said, a day after President Dmitry Medvedev said the pullout would begin today.

Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of Russia's General Staff, was scheduled to provide more details at a press conference scheduled at about 3 p.m. in Moscow, the official said by telephone.

Medvedev announced the planned pullout after the U.S. and other western countries pressed him to honor a European Union- brokered cease-fire. Russia's incursion began on Aug. 8 after a day of heavy fighting between Georgia and South Ossetia. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russia launched a ``well-planned invasion'' of Georgia. Russia counters that Georgia planned its incursion into South Ossetia in advance.

``If anyone thinks he can kill our citizens, our soldiers and officers who are serving as peacekeepers, and not be punished, we will never allow this,'' Medvedev told veterans in the southern city of Kursk. ``Anyone who tries this will receive a devastating response.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Sebastian Alison in Moscow at Salison1@bloomberg.net; Helena Bedwell in Tbilisi hbedwell@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: August 18, 2008 06:58 EDT