Pro-Russian forces stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, firing shots and smashing through concrete walls with armored personnel carriers. At least one person was wounded, the base commander said.
An APC also
smashed open the front gate of the Belbek base near the port city of
Sevastopol, according to footage provided by the Ukrainian Defense
ministry. Two ambulances arrived and then departed shortly after, and at
least one of them was carrying what appeared to be a wounded person, an
Associated Press journalist said.
The
Ukrainian commander of the base, Yuliy Mamchur, said there was at least
one injury. He called his men together, they sang the Ukrainian
national anthem and then stood at ease. He said they are going to turn
over their weapons.
Russian
forces have been seizing Ukrainian military facilities for several days
in the Black Sea peninsula, which voted a week ago to secede and join
Russia.
Elsewhere, more than
5,000 pro-Russia residents of a major city in Ukraine's east
demonstrated in favor of holding a referendum on whether to seek to
split off and become part of Russia.
The
rally in Donetsk came less than a week after the Ukrainian region of
Crimea approved secession in a referendum regarded as illegitimate by
Western countries. After the referendum, Russia formally annexed Crimea.
With Crimea now effectively
under the control of Russian forces, which ring Ukrainian military
bases on the strategic Black Sea peninsula, concern is rising that
Ukraine's eastern regions will agitate for a similar move.
Russia
has brought large military contingents to areas near the border with
eastern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there is no
intention to move into eastern Ukraine, but the prospect of violence
between pro- and anti-secession groups in the east could be used as a
pretext for sending in troops.
Eastern Ukraine is the heartland of
Ukraine's economically vital heavy industry and mining. It's also the
support base for Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president who fled to
Russia last month after three months of protests in the capital, Kiev,
triggered by his decision not to sign an agreement with the European
Union.Russia and Yanukovych supporters contend Yanukovych's ouster was a coup and allege that the authorities who then came to power are nationalists who would oppress the east's large ethnic Russian population.
"They're trying to tear us away from Russia," said demonstrator Igor Shapoval, a 59-year-old businessman. "But Donbass is ready to fight against this band which already lost Crimea and is losing in the east."
Donbass is the name for the region of factories and mines that includes Donetsk.
About
an hour after the Donetsk rally began, the crowd marched through the
city center and assembled before the regional administration building
chanting: "Crimea! Donbass! Russia!"
Demonstrators waving Russian
flags were faced off by lines of shield-wielding riot police. Inside,
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was meeting with local
officials.
The demonstrators
erected several tents, an ironic echo of the massive tent camp that was
established on Kiev's central square after the protests against
Yanukovych broke out in late November.
"I'm
ready to live in a tent, but I'm not ready to submit to the West, to
dance to their tune," said Viktor Rudko, a 43-year-old miner.
The local parliament on
Friday formed a working group to develop a referendum analogous to the
one in Crimea. Activists on Saturday passed out mock ballots, although
no referendum has been formally called.
A
number of leading pro-Russian activists have already been detained by
police on suspicion of fomenting secessionist activities. The country's
security services said Saturday that they have arrested Mikhail
Chumachenko, leader of the self-styled Donbass People's Militia, on
suspicion of seeking to seize authority.
As tensions roil in the
east, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is
deploying an observer team aimed at easing the crisis.
Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement on
Friday that Moscow hopes that the 200-strong team "will help to
overcome the internal Ukrainian crisis" and ensure the respect for human
rights there.
It is unclear
whether the team will be allowed into Crimea. Russian forces last week
stopped OSCE military observers from entering Crimea. The organization
on Friday did not specify whether the observers will go to Crimea.
Lukashevich said on
Saturday that the OSCE's mission "will reflect the new political and
legal order and will not cover Crimea and Sevastopol which became part
of Russia."
Sevastopol, a city in southwest Crimea, is the home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Daniel
Baer, the United States' chief envoy to OSCE, said the observers should
have access to the territory because Crimea remains Ukrainian to the
rest of the world.
The seizure
of military facilities and navy ships by pro-Russian forces in Crimea
has been proceeding apace since the peninsula was nominally absorbed by
Russia.
On Saturday, a crowd stormed the Novofedorivka base, some
50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Simferopol, Ukraine's Defense Ministry
said.
Ukrainian television
station TSN said troops inside the base hoisted smoke grenades in an
attempt to disperse groups of burly young men attempting to break
through the front gates.
TSN reported that there were children among the crowd attempting to seize the base.
The
Russian Defense Ministry says that as of late Friday less than 2,000 of
18,000 Ukrainian servicemen in Crimea had "expressed a desire to leave
for Ukraine." The ministry, however, stopped short of saying the
remainder of the troops would serve in the Russian army.
Pro-Russian Forces Storm Ukrain Base In Crimea , Firing Shots
![Pro-Russian Forces Storm Ukrain Base In Crimea , Firing Shots]()
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Saturday, March 22, 2014
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