MOSCOW
Russia is to build a fully-fledged army in Crimea, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu has said.
Shoygu said in a meeting with military officials on Tuesday that the military situation in the southwest of the country had changed because of the "deteriorating crisis in Ukraine and the increase in the number of foreign military members at the country's borders".
"Our priority is to form a self-sufficient and fully-fledged army in Crimea," said Shoygu.
Anti-government protests, which began at the end of last year in Ukraine, led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country.
After the formation of a new pro-Western government, armed groups raised the Russian flag in the Crimean Parliament at the end of February.
Russia annexed Crimea in March.
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