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Pro-Russian forces seize another Ukrainian vessel

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:44PM GMT

Pro-Russian forces have stormed and captured a Ukrainian navy ship in western Crimea as Russian forces have been seizing Ukrainian military facilities for several days in the Black Sea peninsula.

On Monday, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced that pro-Russian forces launched their assault on the blocked landing craft Konstantin Olshansky in Donuzlav Bay, and seized control of the vessel.

A Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman said the ship's crew had fired smoke grenades in self-defense.

According to Ukrainian media, at least two hundred pro-Russian forces took part in the assault, and there were only 20 crew members onboard the military ship when it came under attack.

The development came on the same day as Russian troops took over a Ukrainian marine base in the Crimean port of Feodosia.

The base in the city of Feodosia was one of the few military buildings still flying the Ukrainian flag after Crimea re-joined the Russian Federation last week.

On March 22, a group of pro-Russian armed men captured the blockaded vessel Slavutich in the port city of Sevastopol in southwest Crimea.

Kiev authorities have stated that Ukrainian forces are being pulled out from Crimea to spare them and their families from possible threats.

On March 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the documents officially making Crimea part of the Russian territory. Putin said the move was carried out based on the international law.

Putin also signed legislation creating two new Russian administrative districts -- Crimea and the port city of Sevastopol.

Earlier, Russia's upper and lower houses of parliament had overwhelmingly put their stamp at the incorporation of the Ukrainian breakaway region of Crimea into 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 the participants voted in favor of the move. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.

MP/AS/MAM