MOSCOW
Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russia's Armed Forces, has said that Ukrainian soldiers and their families in Crimea will be sent back to Ukraine via the railways, according to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass.
Some 1,500 Ukrainian troops will leave the region after handing over their weapons for protection, Gerasimov said, adding "the servicemen and their families will be transported from the Black Sea peninsula by railways under the agreement with the Russian Defense Ministry."
Sergei Shoigu, Russian defense minister, reinforced Gerasimov’s statement saying soldiers who wished to continue their service in the Ukrainian armed forces were free to leave Crimea and would receive assistance to do so.
On March 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the annexation of the strategic peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine following a referendum in the region where 97 percent of voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
However, the United States, European Union and Ukraine regard the vote as "illegitimate".
englishnews@aa.com.tr
