This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56842763
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Russia to pull troops back from near Ukraine | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Military drills were taking place in annexed Crimea on Thursday, watched by Russia's defence minister | Military drills were taking place in annexed Crimea on Thursday, watched by Russia's defence minister |
| After weeks of tension over a build-up of Russian troops close to Ukraine's border, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered a number of units in the area back to their bases. | After weeks of tension over a build-up of Russian troops close to Ukraine's border, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered a number of units in the area back to their bases. |
| The EU estimated that more than 100,000 Russian soldiers had amassed near the border as well as in Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014. | |
| Speaking in Crimea, Mr Shoigu said units on exercise would return to base. | Speaking in Crimea, Mr Shoigu said units on exercise would return to base. |
| The aims of the "snap checks" had been achieved, he added. | The aims of the "snap checks" had been achieved, he added. |
| "The troops have demonstrated their ability to provide a credible defence for the country," he said, adding that he had instructed the commanders of units from the 58th and 41st armies as well as several airborne divisions to start returning to their "permanent bases" on Friday and to complete the operation by 1 May. | |
| Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky raised the troop build-up with European leaders earlier this week, and challenged Russia's President Vladimir Putin to meet him in the conflict zone. Nato leaders also sounded the alarm. | |
| The BBC's Jonah Fisher reports from the front line in eastern Ukraine | |
| Although Russia has shrugged off the build-up as training exercises in response to "threatening" actions from Nato, it is also said to be planning to cordon off areas of the Black Sea to foreign shipping. | |
| Conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014, after the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine. Russian-backed troops captured large areas of the Luhansk and Donetsk region and there have been a number of breaches of a ceasefire in the east in recent weeks. |