Saying drills over, Russia orders Ukraine pullback

Russian military vehicles move Thursday during drills in Crimea where the Russian military had been conducting large-scale drills in a show of force amid tensions with Ukraine.
(AP/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service)
Russian military vehicles move Thursday during drills in Crimea where the Russian military had been conducting large-scale drills in a show of force amid tensions with Ukraine. (AP/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service)

MOSCOW — Russia’s defense minister Thursday ordered troops back to their permanent bases after drills held during rising tensions with Ukraine, but said they should leave their weapons behind in western Russia for another exercise later this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the Russian pullback along the border.

After watching the drills, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared the maneuvers in Crimea and areas of western Russia over and ordered the military to pull the troops back to their bases.

“I consider the goals of the snap check of readiness fulfilled,” Shoigu said. “The troops have shown their capability to defend the country 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 ordered their heavy weapons kept in western Russia for another military exercise. The weapons will remain at the Pogonovo firing range in the southwestern Voronezh region, 100 miles east of the border with Ukraine.

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The Russian troop buildup took place as increasing violations of a cease-fire in war-torn eastern Ukraine raised concerns in the West, which urged the Kremlin to pull its forces back.

A Ukrainian soldier was killed Thursday by separatist fire in the east, bringing the number of Ukrainian troops killed this year to 32.

The U.S. and NATO have said the Russian buildup near Ukraine was the largest since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and threw its support behind separatists in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas.

Ukraine’s president applauded the pullback.

“The reduction of troops on our border proportionally reduces tension,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter. He noted that Ukraine remains vigilant but “welcomes any steps to decrease the military presence and deescalate the situation in Donbas.” Earlier this week, Zelenskyy offered to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Donbas to defuse tensions.

Putin responded in televised remarks Thursday, saying if the Ukrainian leadership wants to settle the conflict in Donbas, it should first engage in talks with separatist leaders there. If Zelenskyy wants to discuss normalizing ties with Russia, he’s welcome to visit Moscow, the Russian leader said.

The Russian military hasn’t reported the number of additional troops that had 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.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the maneuvers in Crimea involved more than 60 ships, 10,000 troops, around 200 aircraft and about 1,200 military vehicles.

The exercise featured the landing Thursday of more than 2,000 paratroopers and 60 military vehicles. Fighter jets covered the airborne operation.

Shoigu flew in a helicopter over the Opuk firing range in Crimea to oversee the exercise. He later declared the drills over, but ordered the military to stand ready to respond to any “adverse developments” during NATO’s Defender Europe 2021 exercise. The NATO drills began in March and are to last until June.

“NATO has significantly intensified its military activities in the region,” Shoigu said. “Intelligence gathering has increased and the intensity and scope of operational training has been growing. One of the alliance’s main coalition groups is being deployed in the Black Sea region.” Russia has long bristled at the deployment of NATO’s forces near its borders and stepped up its drills as relations with the West have sunk to post-Cold War lows over the annexation of Crimea, Russian meddling in elections, hacking attacks and other issues.

Last week, Russia announced that it would close broad areas of the Black Sea near Crimea to foreign navy ships and state vessels until November, a move that drew Ukrainian protests and raised Western concerns. Russia also announced restrictions on flights near Crimea this week.

Moscow has rejected Ukrainian and Western concerns about the troop buildup, arguing that it’s free to deploy its forces anywhere on Russian territory.

Russian paratroopers load up Thursday in Taganrog in southwestern Russia during large-scale maneuvers near Ukraine. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu observed the exercises, then ordered troops back to their bases for now. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy applauded the pullback but said Ukraine remains vigilant. More photos at arkansasonline.com/423crimea/.
(AP)
Russian paratroopers load up Thursday in Taganrog in southwestern Russia during large-scale maneuvers near Ukraine. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu observed the exercises, then ordered troops back to their bases for now. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy applauded the pullback but said Ukraine remains vigilant. More photos at arkansasonline.com/423crimea/. (AP)

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