Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country did not see any withdrawal of Russian forces on the border, in response to Moscow's announcement of the withdrawal of its forces from the Crimea.
"To be honest, we are responding to the facts, and we haven't seen any Russian withdrawal yet, we just heard about it," Zelensky told the BBC exclusively.
And the Ukrainian president added, in his statements, which he mentioned in one of the military bases in western Ukraine, "Any normal person expects a de-escalation, and regarding the threat, I have said several times that we are calm towards any threat because we know that all this did not start yesterday. This has been happening for several years." Years".
Zelensky continued, saying that when the armies withdraw, “everyone knows this,” not only military forces and reconnaissance units, “but for now, this is just a statement.” And the Russian Defense Ministry announced Wednesday morning that more troops will leave Crimea after completing military exercises. Russia has announced that its military exercises in Crimea have ended and that the troops will leave.
"Units of the Southern Military District, having completed their participation in tactical exercises, are moving to their permanent deployment centers," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The statement said that tanks, other military vehicles and artillery are leaving Crimea by rail, without specifying the number of troops that will leave.
State television footage showed military units apparently crossing the bridge and leaving Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
