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Ukraine latest: Armed men seize defence post in the Crimean city of Sevastopol
Ukraine latest: Russian troops thwarted in attempt to storm missile base in Sevastopol
(35 minutes later)
Armed men thought to be Russians have reportedly seized a Ukrainian military base in the Crimea on Friday, but no shots were fired according to reporters on the scene.
Russian troops attempted tostorm a Ukrainian missile base in Sevastopol tonight but were thwarted when thedefenders barricaded themselves inside.
Initial reports state that 20 men smashed through the gates of the missile defence in the city of Sevastopol post using a truck, where 100 Ukrainian troops are stationed, according to the Interfax news agency.
Stun grenades were said to have been thrown by the attackers who used a military truck to drive through the gates to the base but no shots were fired.
The Ukrainians barricaded themselves inside one of their barracks, and their commander began negotiations.
About 100 Ukrainian troops are thought to have been in the missile installation and the Russians left after holding talks with the base commanders and reaching an agreement with them. Estimates of the number of Russians involved ranged from 20 to 60.
However, a reporter from Reuters agency could not see any signs of the gates being damaged.
It remained unclear why the Russians tried to enter the base, what their intentions were or what agreement they came to with the Ukrainian officers.
A Ukrainian military official, Vladislav Seleznyov, said that the armed men took over the base without any shooting and that no one was injured.
The Ukrainian deputy commander spoke briefly to journalists afterwards and said the Russians had told him they had permission to open fire.
The post was being mediated between the Ukrainian forces and the armed group inside, and that no arms had been seized, according to another Ukrainian official who spoke to Reuters.
Several members of a pro-Russian “self-defence” militia were also seen outside the base and were said to have attacked two press photographers who tried to take pictures of the scene.
The reports come amid the worst diplomatic crisis in Europe since the Cold War, in which the peninsula has become a strategic flashpoint between Ukraine and Russia.
The standoff came at the end of a day when Russia appeared to have tightened its grip on the Crimean peninsula with an estimated 20,000 of its troops now based in the region. The estimate by the Pentagon was 10,000 lower than that of a Ukrainian figure cited earlier today.
Ukraine currently maintains the Crimea as its own however a referendum on whether it should join Russia on 16 March could change this.
Moscow’s strained relations with Western nations continued to fester as it issued warnings that sanctions or other measures imposed by the United States or the European Union would provoke retaliation.
Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov warned US Secretary of State John Kerry that sanctions over Russian actions in Crimea could backfire, the ministry said in a statement. In a telephone conversation, Mr Lavrov urged the US not to take "hasty, poorly thought-out steps that could harm Russian-US relations, especially concerning sanctions, which would unavoidably boomerang on the US itself," the statement said.
The strategic peninsula has become the flashpoint in the battle for Ukraine, where three months of protests sent president Viktor Yanukovych fleeing to Russia. Moscow calls the new Ukrainian government illegitimate, and has seized control of Crimea, where it has a major naval base on the Black Sea.
Although Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has no intention of annexing Crimea, he insisted that its residents have the right to determine the region's status in the referendum.
Valentina Matvienko, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, made clear that the country would welcome Crimea if it votes in the referendum to join its giant neighbour. About 60% of Crimea's population identifies itself as Russian.
"If the decision is made, then (Crimea) will become an absolutely equal subject of the Russian Federation," Matvienko said during a visit from the chairman of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov. She spoke of mistreatment of Russian-speaking residents in Ukraine's east and south, which has been Moscow's primary argument for possible intervention in Ukraine.
