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MOSCOW — Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Monday it was deploying more than 10 Sukhoi SU-27 and SU-30 fighter jets to Crimea after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov alleged Ukraine was preparing “a provocation” near Crimea before the end of the year.

The Defence Ministry was cited as saying that the deployment was to the overhauled Belbek air base in Crimea where the fighter jets would be permanently stationed.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and tensions between the two neighbours flared on November 25 after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews.

Meanwhile, Russia said on Monday it had built new barracks to house its troops on a disputed chain of islands near Japan and would build more facilities for armoured vehicles, a move likely to anger Tokyo which wants Moscow to reduce its military activity there.

The announcement, from the Ministry of Defence, said Moscow planned to move troops into four housing complexes on two of the four disputed islands, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, next week.

—Reuters.