DHAKA: Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday inspected troops and military facilities in Crimea, the first senior Russian official to travel to the Black Sea peninsula since Moscow absorbed the region into its territory.

Russia state television said, reports The Straits Times.

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, in defiance of the stance of the international community that it will always be part of Ukraine.

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 that the peninsula is under Russian control.

BDST: 1942 HRS, MAR 24, 2014