Ukrainian navy base captured in Crimea: Reports
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 19, 2014 5:5PM GMT
Crimea's pro-Russian self-defense forces have taken control of a second Ukrainian navy base in western Crimea, reports say.
Witnesses said some 50 Ukrainian servicemen filed out of the base at Novo-Ozerne on Wednesday as pro-Russian armed men raised the Russian flag over the base.
Earlier in the day, pro-Russian forces stormed and seized the Ukrainian navy base in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol.
Crimean authorities detained the Ukrainian navy commander and reportedly blocked Ukraine's defense minister and another government official from traveling to the peninsula in what they said was an attempt to defuse tensions.
Crimea's Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov had latterly warned that the Ukrainian officials would be turned back as "they are not welcome in Crimea."
The Crimean territory has witnessed dramatic developments in the last few days, taking the center stage of world news.
On Tuesday, Aksyonov together with Sevastopol mayor Aleksey Chaly and Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty of accession of the Black Sea peninsula and Sevastopol city to the Russian Federation.
Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17 and formally applied to become part of Russia, following a referendum a day earlier, in which 96.8 percent of participants voted in favor of the secession. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.
The move sparked angry reactions from the US and the European Union, both imposing "punitive measures", including travel bans and assets freezes, against a number of Russian officials as well as authorities in Crimea.
Ukraine has been gripped by a political crisis since November 2013, after the ousted Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Moscow.
CAH/AB/SL
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