Russia has said military drills in Moscow-annexed Crimea have ended and that soldiers are returning to their garrisons, a day after it announced a first troop pullback from Ukraine's borders.

"Units of the Southern Military District, having completed their participation in tactical exercises, are moving to their permanent deployment points," Moscow's defence ministry said in a statement, as state television showed images of military units crossing a bridge linking the Russian-controlled peninsula to the mainland.

However, the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said "we haven't seen any evidence" of Russian troop withdrawal from the Ukrainian border.

""I think the reality is ... that we'll take Russia at its word, but we'll judge them on their actions ... and until we see a proper de-escalation, I think we should all be cautious about the direction of travel from the Kremlin," Mr Wallace told Sky News, adding that intelligence shows 60 per cent of Russia's entire land forces remains on the border, along with "significant" naval resources.

Read more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/02/16/russia-ukraine-putin-news-troops-alexei-navalny-nato/

Subscribe to The Telegraph on YouTube ► https://bit.ly/3idrdLH

Get the latest headlines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.

#Ukraine #Russia