Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the news of Russia's withdrawal from Kyiv late Thursday as the Kremlin ordered troops back to their permanent bases following massive drills but said that they should leave their weapons behind in western Russia for another exercise later this year.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that after watching the drills, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared the manoeuvres in Crimea and wide swathes of western Russia over and ordered the military to pull the troops that took part in them back to their permanent bases.