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Russian Troops Seize Gas Plant Beyond Crimean Border, Ukraine Says Russian Troops Seize Gas Plant Beyond Crimean Border, Ukraine Says
(about 1 hour later)
KIEV, Ukraine — Scores of Russian troops landed by helicopter and seized a gas plant just beyond the regional border of Crimea on Saturday, the Ukrainian government said. The action was Russia’s most provocative since its forces took over Crimea two weeks ago. KIEV, Ukraine — At least 80 Russian troops landed by helicopter Saturday to seize a natural gas terminal just beyond the regional border of Crimea, the Ukrainian government said. The action was Russia’s most provocative since its forces took over Crimea two weeks ago.
The latest troop advance came one day before Crimea was set to vote on whether to secede from Ukraine, and it was testing Ukrainian leaders’ resolve to engage Russia’s much more powerful military if it moved beyond Crimea. The latest troop advance comes one day before Crimea is to vote on whether to secede from Ukraine and is testing Ukrainian leaders’ resolve to engage Russia’s much more powerful military if it moved beyond Crimea.
By late afternoon, Ukrainian troops were stationed outside the gas plant, which is on a slender sand bar to the east of the Crimean Peninsula, according to Unian, a Ukrainian news service, which quoted the local police. The news agency did not say if shots were fired.   By late afternoon, Ukranian troops were stationed outside the gas plant, which is on a slender sand bar to the east of the Crimean Peninsula, according to Unian, a Ukrainian news service that spoke to local police. The news agency did not say if shots had been fired.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the nation reserved the right to use all necessary measures to stop what it called a “military invasion by Russia.” The Ukrainian foreign ministry issued a statement saying Ukraine “reserves the right to use all necessary measures” to stop what it called “the military invasion by Russia.”
  Ukrainians have feared for some time that as Russia tightened its control over Crimea, it would also try to secure key infrastructure supporting the peninsula that lie outside its administrative borders, including a reservoir of fresh water in Ukraine’s Kherson region.
Unian reported initially that helicopters had landed near the village of Strelkovoye on the Arabatskaya Spit, in the Azov Sea that links Crimea to the mainland.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry statement said about 80 troops landed on the spit, supported by four helicopters and three armored vehicles. The Ukrainian ministry of defense said it also had scrambled aircraft without specifying what type.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said on Saturday afternoon that American officials had not confirmed the reported incursion and had no comment.
The Russian move appeared to fit the pattern of deployment on Crimea: Unian cited local residents saying soldiers without identifying insignia had landed near the gas terminal but their origin was hardly in doubt, as they had landed in helicopters with Russia’s red-star tail art.
Even before the incursion, Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, warned on Saturday that, “the situation is very dangerous. I am not exaggerating. There is a real danger of an invasion of Ukrainian territory.” He called on Parliament to hold an extraordinary session Monday morning to authorize emergency funding to the ministry of defense.
Ukrainian officials were especially anxious because of reports of street fighting breaking out in cities in the eastern provinces of Ukraine between protesters who are pro-Russian and those who support the Ukrainian government in Kiev. Russian officials have said they stood ready to enter the Ukrainian mainland if they felt ethnic Russian citizens were in danger.
On Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry reiterated that. “Russia has received many calls to protect peaceful citizens,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “These requests are being considered.”
The statement went on to denounce what it called provocations against ethnic Russians in several eastern cities, including Kharkiv, where two people were killed and several wounded in a violent clash on Friday night.
The Ukrainian military in Crimea had reported Friday that Russian forces on the peninsula were shifting tanks, artillery and troops to the north of the region, toward the Ukrainian mainland. A spokesman in Crimea, Vladislav Seleznyov, said that a column of more than 100 military vehicles was seen on a highway. Elsewhere on the peninsula, he said, troops and trucks towing artillery pieced moved from Kerch, a city near the strait of the same name separating Crimea from Russia, to the north, and a cargo train carried armored vehicles from the south to the north of the region.
In Russia, there have been numerous anecdotal reports of troop movements near Ukraine’s border. While the military has announced a series of operations to test the readiness of forces, the movements have been seen as preparation for a push across the border. Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov after meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday in London, have insisted that Russia did not intend to send armed forces into southern or eastern Ukraine.