Russia trying to hide from OSCE presence of Russian troops in Crimea - Parubiy

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy has said that Russia is trying to redeploy its troops in Crimea so that the OSCE mission cannot record their presence.

"It's obvious that the so-called self-defense units were only a cover. The most active actions were carried out by special forces and Russian servicemen. And they do not even hide this in conversations with our military and our military units," he said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"For us there's no question that there are Russian troops. Of course they are there. Of course, they stand near our [military] units. And even last night, when it became known that an OSCE mission would go to Crimea, they are trying to redeploy so that only the forces that are part of the Black Sea Fleet remain, while those who were sent from Russia - not from the Russian Black Sea Fleet - they are trying to get them back to the bases so that the OSCE cannot record their presence. But Russian Black Sea Fleet troops and Russian troops were and are deployed on the Crimean peninsula," Parubiy said.