"The goals of the snap check have been fully achieved. The troops have demonstrated their ability to provide reliable defense of the country," Shoigu said.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced on Thursday that troops deployed for military exercises in the south and west of his country have been ordered to return to their permanent duty stations.
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"The goals of the snap check have been fully achieved. The troops have demonstrated their ability to provide reliable defense of the country," he said.
The 58th Army of the Southern Military District, the 41st Army of the Central Military District, and the 7th, 76th and 98th Airborne Divisions will return to their bases through May 1.
In recent weeks, the deployment of these troops near the border generated alarm in the Ukrainian government, which accused Moscow of preparing a war in the Donbas.
��#Zakharova: We are concerned about #Ukraine's actions aimed at destabilising #Donbass.
— MFA Russia ���� (@mfa_russia) April 22, 2021
❗️ We call on Kiev to stop military escalation in the region, stop imitating the negotiation process and start fulfilling its obligations under the Minsk Package of Measures. pic.twitter.com/s7a2WJJHhg
Shoigu also called on the Russian high command to monitor the "Defend Europe" maneuvers carried out by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
"We must be ready to react immediately in case of an unfavorable development of events," the Defense minister said, adding that the NATO military maneuvers have a "clear anti-Russian bias."
He recalled that NATO has stationed its forces on the Black Sea coast and set up coordination centers in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.