DHAKA: Ukrainian troops will remain in Crimea, the country’s defence minister said Monday even as media reported the separatist peninsula planned to disband Ukrainian units there.

‘Troops that are deployed (in Crimea) will stay there,’ Ukraine defence minister Igor Tenyukh told a press conference in Kiev, a day after the Black Sea region voted to become part of Russia.

The Straits Times publishes this report.

BDST: 1651 HRS, MAR 17, 2014