Almost 19,000 Russian soldiers deployed in Crimea - Ukrainian Foreign Ministry

15:06, 11.03.2014 1 min read

Almost 19,000 Russian troops are currently in Crimea, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported.

"The number of Russian troops in Crimea as of March 10, according to modest estimates, is 18,800 soldiers," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said at a briefing on Tuesday.

He said that they included 11,400 Russian Black Sea Fleet servicemen and 7,400 servicemen from the military units and associations of the Russian Armed Forces.

Acting Ukrainian Defense Minister Ihor Teniukh said on March 8 that there were about 18,000 Russian troops in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, including 6,000 special-forces servicemen.