Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu went to Crimea on Thursday to oversee large-scale snap drills of Russia's southern military district and paratroopers close to Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported.

Ukraine and the West have raised alarm over a Russian military buildup near Russia's border with Ukraine. Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, prompting the West to impose sanctions. Kyiv wants the region back.