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Russian soldiers in tanks returning to their garrisons
Photo: Uncredited / dpa
Russia says it has begun withdrawing some units from the Ukrainian border.
The Kremlin announced that they had "completed their tasks" and were now being sent back to their home garrisons.
The troops from the military districts in southern and western Russia would make their way back to their military bases later in the day, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said, according to Russian news agencies.
It is not yet clear how many soldiers will be affected by the deduction.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that some of the Russian army's controversial military maneuvers at home and in Belarus were coming to an end.
The massive Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine has been fueling fears of a Russian invasion of the neighboring country for weeks.
According to US information, more than 100,000 Russian soldiers were “clearly” mobilized in the border area.
A Russian naval maneuver near the Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea also raised concerns.
In response to Russian troop movements, the West had increased its military presence in Eastern Europe.
On Monday, the first additional Bundeswehr soldiers to strengthen NATO's so-called Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) arrived in the EU country of Lithuania.
In total, the Bundeswehr wants to send 350 more soldiers and around 100 military vehicles to Lithuania.
So far, around 550 German soldiers are stationed in the former Soviet republic.
The Ukraine conflict is also the focus of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's (SPD) visit to Putin this Tuesday in Moscow.
Scholz had already met the Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyj in Kiev on Monday (read more here).
Scholz has already landed in the Russian capital.
The talks with Putin are said to last around four hours.
as/Reuters/AFP