RUSSIAN troops that took part in military exercises in three provinces bordering Ukraine had dismantled equipment and were ready to leave, Moscow announced today.

A Defence Ministry statement said the units in question had spent 24 hours dismantling field camps, packing and preparing military vehicles and were now “moving toward train stations and airfields” to return to their bases.

Russian television broadcast footage of columns of tanks and artillery towed by heavy lorries.

Airborne forces chief General Vladimir Shamanov said that battalions from three airborne divisions would be at their home bases within 10 days.

But Nato, which estimated that Russia had 40,000 troops along the border with Ukraine, insisted yesterday that it could not see any signs of a Russian withdrawal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin retorted on Russian TV that “those who aren’t seeing it should look better.”

He said: “The numbers of troops and armour are quite large, and their pullout requires serious preparations,” and “if the weather is good, they will see it all from space.”

Mr Putin said that he had ordered troops to pull out from the regions near Ukraine to help create a positive environment ahead of the nation’s presidential vote, but added that continued fighting would make it hard for the Kremlin to deal with the winner.

The Russian leader said it would have made more sense for the Ukrainian authorities to have a constitutional referendum to approve a new constitution before the election.

“It will be very difficult for us to develop relations with people who come to power amid a punitive operation in south-eastern Ukraine,” he said.

Weeks of fighting between pro-Russian activists and Kiev’s coup government forces have left dozens dead.

Russia supports a peace plan brokered by Switzerland and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which envisages a broad amnesty and the launch of a national dialogue that focuses on decentralisation of government and safeguarding the status of the Russian language.

Meanwhile, clashes between pro-Russian elements and Kiev’s forces continued in eastern Ukraine.