Ukraine says Russia still has 100,000 troops near its borders | Al Jazeera

Russia still has about 100,000 soldiers deployed near its western border with Ukraine and in annexed Crimea despite Moscow announcing a military pullback last month amid soaring tensions with Kyiv, the head of Ukraine’s state security service has said.

Ivan Bakanov’s comments on Tuesday echoed earlier remarks by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who on Monday accused Russia of having failed to fully withdraw military hardware and troops from the border areas following the two countries’ standoff.

Russia’s military build-up took place against the backdrop of an uptick in fighting in Ukraine’s conflict-stricken eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where government forces have battled Russian-backed separatist forces since the rebels seized a swath of territory there in April 2014.

As part of Moscow’s manoeuvres, Russian military units also conducted exercises in the Black Sea region of Crimea...