Russia announces troop evacuation after war exercises in Crime

“South Military District units, after completing their participation in tactical exercises, are moving to their permanent points of deployment”, the Moscow Defence Ministry said in a statement.

State television showed images of military units crossing a bridge linking Russia's controlled peninsula to Russia.

The statement said that tanks, infantry vehicles and artillery were leaving the Crimea with railways.

This comes a day after Moscow said it was drawing some of the troops deployed at its neighbour's borders.

But Western leaders remain concerned that Russia could still launch an attack on Ukraine, with US President Joe Biden warning on Tuesday that an attack by Moscow remains “a real option”.

Biden said that despite Russian claims earlier in the day, Washington and his allies have not yet verified the withdrawal of any of the tens of thousands of troops he says Moscow has now gathered along the Ukrainian border.

If Russia invades Ukraine, this would not be the first time.

Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crime Peninsula in 2014.

This country also supports rebels in conflicts in eastern Ukraine, in which about 14,000 people have died. / REL/