Russian DM Visits Crimea as Ukraine Orders Military Withdrawal

Shoigu, one of the closest allies of President Vladimir Putin in the Russian cabinet, inspected the Russian Black Sea Fleet based in the port of Sevastopol and also met Crimea's pro-Moscow prime minister Sergei Aksyonov.
 
The minister is by far the most important Russian official to visit Crimea since Moscow declared the region part of Russia.
 
State television showed Shoigu meeting Russian military forces in Crimea and also with former members of the Ukrainian armed forces who have elected to serve for Russia now the peninsula is under Russian control.
 
Shoigu assured the former Ukrainian troops that they would be able to serve anywhere in Russia and would have exactly the same benefits as other Russia servicemen.
 
He also made clear that it was a major priority for Russia to ensure that all military hardware on the peninsula was secured after the Russian takeover.
 
"In the last days, a group of officers has been checking and making sure there is no interim stage or anarchy, making sure that the military hardware does not fall into not the best hands," he said in comments broadcast on state television.
 
His visit came after a pro-Moscow official declared that all troops loyal to Ukraine have left their bases on the Crimea peninsula and acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered troops to withdraw from the region.
 
"The national security and defense council has reached a decision, under instructions from the defence ministry, to conduct a redeployment of military units stationed in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," Turchynov said in nationally televised remarks.
 
"The cabinet of ministers has instructions to resettle the families of soldiers as well as everyone else who today is forced to leave their homes under the pressure and aggression of the Russian army's occupying forces."
 
Crimea's pro-Kremlin deputy premier Rustam Temirgaliyev told Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency that "all Ukrainian soldiers have either switched to the Russian side or are leaving the territory of the Crimea."