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The family of a cinematographer shot and killed on the set of the film Rust is suing Alec Baldwin and the movie's producers for wrongful death, their attorneys say.

Lawyers for the family of Halyna Hutchins announced the lawsuit filed in New Mexico in the name of Hutchins' husband, Matthew Hutchins, and their son, Andros, at a Los Angeles news conference on Tuesday.

At least three other lawsuits have been filed over the shooting, but this is the first directly tied to one of the two people shot.

The "reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures" of Baldwin and the film's producers "led to the death of Halyna Hutchins," attorney Brian Panish said.

A video created by the attorneys showed an animated recreation of the shooting.

Baldwin was pointing a gun at Hutchins during the set-up for the filming of a scene for the western in New Mexico on October 21 when it went off, killing Hutchins and wounding the director, Joel Souza.

Baldwin has said he was pointing the gun at Hutchins at her instruction and it went off without him pulling the trigger.

The attorneys said in the video that Baldwin had turned down training for the kind of gun draw he was doing when he shot Hutchins.

It said industry standards call for using a rubber or similar prop gun during the set-up that was happening, and there was no call for a real gun.

Last month, nearly three months after the shooting, Baldwin turned over his mobile phone to authorities in his home state of New York. They gathered information from the phone and provided it to Santa Fe County investigators, who had obtained a warrant for it.

Investigators have described "some complacency" in how weapons were handled on the Rust set. They have said it is too soon to determine whether charges will be filed.

Baldwin said he does not believe he will be criminally charged in the shooting.

The film's script supervisor and its lead camera operator, both of whom were standing a few feet away when Hutchins was shot, each filed a lawsuit over the trauma they went through.

And the film's armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was named as a defendant in those lawsuits and blamed by some for the shooting, filed her own suit saying an ammunition supplier created dangerous conditions by including live ammunition in a box that was supposed to include only dummy rounds.

In an interview with ABC News in December, Baldwin said he felt incredible sadness over the the shooting, but not guilt.

"Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but it's not me," Baldwin said.

He said Hutchins had asked him to point the gun just off camera and toward her armpit before it went off.

"I didn't pull the trigger," Baldwin said. "I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never."

© AP 2022

Russia says some of its military units are returning to their bases after exercises near Ukraine, following days of US and British warnings that Moscow might invade its neighbour at any time.

It was not clear how many units were being withdrawn, and by what distance, after a build-up of an estimated 130,000 Russian troops to the north, east and south of Ukraine.

The development drew a cautious response from Ukraine and Britain but prompted a sharp rally on financial markets. Western military analysts said it was too soon to be sure of the extent of any de-escalation.

"We've always said the troops will return to their bases after the exercises are over. This is the case this time as well," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

He accused the United States of fuelling the crisis by warning repeatedly of an impending invasion, to the point where Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had made jokes about it.

"He asks (us) to find out if the exact time, to the hour, of the start of the war has been published. It's impossible to be understanding of this manic information madness," Peskov told reporters.

Britain, which with the United States has led the warnings of imminent action, reacted cautiously.

"The Russians have claimed that they have no plans for an invasion, but we will need to see a full scale removal of troops to show that is true," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told LBC radio.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv would only believe that Russia was moving to de-escalate the situation if it saw for itself that Russian troops were being pulled back.

"If we see a withdrawal, we will believe in a de-escalation," Interfax Ukraine quoted him as saying.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the latest Western diplomatic mission to defuse the crisis, began talks with Putin in the Kremlin.

A Russian defence ministry spokesman said that while large-scale drills across the country continued, some units of the Southern and Western military districts adjacent to Ukraine had completed their exercises and started returning to base.

The Southern military district said its forces had started withdrawing from Crimea and returning to their bases after completing drills on the peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Video footage published by the defence ministry showed some tanks and other armoured vehicles being loaded onto railway flatcars.

"February 15, 2022 will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed. Humiliated and destroyed without a single shot fired," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Russian shares, government bonds and the rouble, which have been hit by fears of impending conflict, rose sharply, and Ukrainian government bonds also rallied.

Western military analysts were cautious about the significance of the latest troop movements.

Many of the Russian forces in Belarus for drills due to end on Sunday have come from thousands of miles away in the Eastern Military District. Tuesday's announcement made no mention of those forces.

"Potentially good news, but we should wait to see where the Eastern and Central Military District goes, especially after February 20," Rob Lee, a military analyst who specialises in Russia, wrote on Twitter.

"As long as that remains nearby, Russia will have the capacity to conduct a significant escalation, though possibly not on as short notice."

Konrad Muzyka, director of the Poland-based Rochan consultancy, told Reuters it would take several days to verify the latest moves via satellite imagery.

"It should also be noted that new trains with equipment from Central Russia keep on arriving near the border and that Russian forces continue to move towards staging areas. The announcement stands in a direct opposition to what Russia has been doing for the past few days," he said.

Commercial satellite images taken on Sunday and Monday showed a flurry of Russian military activity at several locations near Ukraine, according to the private US company that released the pictures.

US-based Maxar Technologies pointed to the arrival of several large deployments of troops and attack helicopters as well as new deployments of ground attack aircraft and fighter-bomber jets to forward locations.

© RAW 2022

Novak Djokovic will not defend his Wimbledon or French Open titles if the tournaments require mandatory vaccination for competitors.

"Yes, that is the price that I'm willing to pay," the world No.1 told the BBC when asked if he would sacrifice participating in the competitions.

"I say that everybody has the right to choose or act or say or feel whatever is appropriate for them."

The 34-year-old, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, said he would forego the tournaments "because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else.

"I'm trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can," he added.

Djokovic also distanced himself from the anti-vaccination movement, despite being deported from Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open last month amid concerns about his vaccine status.

"I have never said I'm part of that movement," he said.

"It's really unfortunate that there has been this kind of misconception and wrong conclusion based upon something that I completely disagree with".

He told the broadcaster he was "keeping (his) mind open" to the possibility of getting vaccinated in the future "because we are all trying to find collectively, a best possible solution to end COVID".

"I was never against vaccination. I understand that globally, everyone is trying to put a big effort into handling this virus and seeing, hopefully, an end soon to this virus."

Djokovic addressed his deportation from Australia after some had suggested it was convenient he had tested positive for COVID in mid-December.

The timing allowed him to be granted a medical exemption to attend the tournament.

Djokovic said: "I understand that there is a lot of criticism, and I understand that people come out with different theories on how lucky I was or how convenient it is.

"But no-one is lucky and convenient of getting COVID. Millions of people have and are still struggling with COVID around the world.

"So I take this very seriously, I really don't like someone thinking I've misused something or in my own favour, in order to, you know, get a positive PCR test and eventually go to Australia.

"I was really sad and disappointed with the way it all ended for me in Australia. It wasn't easy.

"I was not deported from Australia on the basis that I was not vaccinated, or I broke any rules or that I made an error in my visa declaration.

"The reason why I was deported from Australia was because the Minister for Immigration used his discretion to cancel my visa based on his perception that I might create some anti-vax sentiment in the country or in the city, which I completely disagree with."

The Serbian is set to return to action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which begin on February 21.

Entrants to Dubai do not need to be vaccinated against COVID and it is a tournament Djokovic has won five times.

© PAA 2022