Russia Denies Ukraine Claim Troops Stayed in Belarus After Games
- Ukraine chief of staff said only some Russia units went home
- Major drills alarmed European states amid standoff with West
Russian military exercises
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Russia denied assertions by neighboring Ukraine that most Russian troops taking part in large-scale war games this month on NATO’s eastern border remained in Belarus after the exercises ended.
“As far as the Russian troops which took part in the joint strategic exercises, Zapad 2017, they all returned to their permanent bases,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Saturday in an emailed statement