Russia orders troops back after massive drills in Crimea
I consider the goals of the snap check of readiness fulfilled, defence minister says
Russia’s defence minister yesterday ordered troops back to their permanent bases following massive drills in Crimea that involved dozens of navy ships, hundreds of warplanes and thousands of troops in a show of force amid tensions with Ukraine.
After watching the drills, Russian Defence Minister Shoigu declared the manoeuvres over and ordered the military to pull the troops taking part in manoeuvres in Crimea and western Russia back to their permanent bases.
“I consider the goals of the snap check of readiness fulfilled,’’ Shoigu said. “The troops have shown their defence capability and I decided to complete the drills in the South and Western military districts.”
Shoigu said the troops should return to their bases by May 1, but he also ordered to keep the heavy weapons deployed to western Russia as part of the drills for another massive military exercise later this year.
Shoigu said they should remain at the Pogonovo firing range in the southwestern Voronezh region. The sprawling range is located 160 kilometres (about 100 miles) east of the border with Ukraine.
Raising concerns
The Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that came amid increasing violations of a ceasefire in Ukraine’s east has raised concerns in the West, which urged the Kremlin to pull its forces back.
The Russian military hasn’t reported the number of additional troops that have been moved to Crimea and parts of southwestern Russia near Ukraine, and it wasn’t immediately clear from Shoigu’s statement if all of them will now be pulled back.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned on Tuesday that the Russian buildup across the border is continuing and is “expected to reach a combined force of over 120,000 troops” in about a week and urged the West to beef up sanctions against Moscow.