SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine, March 8 (Reuters) - A convoy of hundreds of Russian soldiers in about 50 troop trucks drove into a base near Crimea's capital Simferopol on Saturday, a Reuters reporting team in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian province said.
The convoy was accompanied by 8 armoured vehicles, two ambulances, petrol tankers and other hardware.
Russia says its only troops in Crimea are those normally stationed there with its Black Sea Fleet, an assertion Washington calls "(President Vladimir) Putin's fiction". Kiev says there are 30,000 Russians in Crimea. The Pentagon estimates their number at around 20,000.
Russian troops seized the region last week. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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