8:56 am: Russia announces further withdrawal of its forces from the Ukrainian border
Russia has announced the withdrawal of tanks deployed near the Ukrainian border, which are returning to their garrisons, and moving bombers from annexed Crimea, amid Western fears of an attack from Ukraine.
“Another military train carrying personnel and equipment belonging to units of the tank army of the Western Military District has returned to its permanent bases” in the Nizhny Novgorod region, more than a thousand kilometers from Ukraine , the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
These forces return to their garrisons “after completing a planned training exercise”.