Russia has said some military units are returning to their bases as its foreign ministry said the West has been “humiliated” over its warnings about an invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Military of Defence (MoD) said it has been carrying out planned training exercises, including with Belarus, but some of those have been completed so a number of troops on Ukraine’s border have begun heading back to their bases today.
However, the majority are still carrying out training both on land and sea, they said.
Major General Igor Konashenkov, chief spokesman for the Russian MoD, said: “As the combat training measures are completed, the troops, as always, will return to their points of permanent deployment.
“The units of the Southern and Western military districts, having completed their tasks, have already begun loading onto rail and road transport and will begin moving to their military garrisons today.
“Separate units will return on their own as part of military columns.”
West ‘humiliated’ by Russia
The US and the UK warned a Russian invasion of Ukraine was “imminent”, likely on Wednesday, as more than 130,000 Russian troops amassed at the border.
Reflecting on Moscow saying some units are returning to their bases, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “15 February, 2022, will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed.
“Humiliated and destroyed without a single shot fired.”
But speaking earlier on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News: “The only thing I’ll believe is when they move the troops away from the border, words are easy. What they need to do is move the troops away from the border.”
She added that the West would need to see a “full-scale removal of troops to show that is true”, after being asked on LBC about Russia saying it had started returning units to their bases.