Russia Says It Has Ended Military Drills In Crimea, Troops Leaving Peninsula

Russia on Wednesday announced that it is ending its military drills in Crimea, according to news agency AFP. The announcement comes a day after Russia announced that it is withdrawing some of its troops on Tuesday.

“Units of the southern military district, having completed their participation in tactical exercises, are moving to their permanent deployment points,” a defence ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by news agency AFP and Russian news agencies.

News agency AFP cited visuals which showed Russian military units crossing a bridge which connects the disputed peninsula to the Russian mainland. Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian defence ministry said that units of the southern and western military districts were loading onto rail and road transport and moving to their military garrisons.

Crimea saw heavy military deployment indicating a sudden and imminent invasion while the Russian army continued to bolster its strength near Ukraine’s northern and southern borders. Satellite images shared earlier by Maxar Technologies showed that Russia stationed Sukhoi jets, military helicopters, tanks, heavy artillery, camps with Russian infantry, field hospitals and blood banks in the disputed peninsula which it annexed in 2014, beginning the crisis between both nations.

Despite signs of a temporary detente, US president Joe Biden asserted that the threat of a full-scale Russian invasion still remains. Hours after the first withdrawal of military units Ukraine alleged that Russia conducted cyberattacks knocking out its website of the defence ministry and websites of two major banks. Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron also highlighted that there is a need for verification of the troop withdrawal, a concern which was echoed by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Russia, however, stuck to its stance saying that it never planned to attack Ukraine and accused the US and its allies in Europe of spreading war propaganda and hysteria. Russian president Vladimir Putin who met German chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Russia does not want war. “We do not want war in Europe. People of this generation find it hard to imagine war in Europe,” Putin was quoted as saying by German news agency Deutsche Welle.

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