Russia says the video shows tanks and military equipment leaving Crimea

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian Defense Ministry released a video on Wednesday that it said showed a column of tanks and military vehicles leaving the annexed Crimea peninsula via a railway bridge after exercises, adding that some troops would also return to their permanent bases.

On Tuesday, Moscow announced a partial withdrawal of its forces from areas near Ukraine. But the move was met with skepticism, and US President Joe Biden said more than 150,000 Russian troops are still massed near Ukraine’s border. Read more

Global powers are embroiled in one of the deepest crises in East-West relations in decades, vying for post-Cold War influence and energy supplies as Moscow wants to prevent its ex-Soviet neighbor from joining the military alliance.

Video footage, on Wednesday morning, showed what the Defense Ministry said were tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery units leaving Crimea, which Moscow captured from Kiev in 2014.

The Ministry of Defense said that “combat equipment and military personnel will be transported by military trains to the units’ permanent deployment points.” Upon arrival, the equipment will be maintained and prepared for the next stage of combat training.”

And the video, published by the Russian Information Agency, showed dozens of military vehicles crossing the bridge at night.

The TASS news agency quoted the military as saying that a separate convoy of service vehicles passed through a different bridge.

(Alexander Maro and Maxim Rodionov report); Editing by Andrew Heavens

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