Ukraine’s government says it is drawing up plans to withdraw its troops from Crimea, where Russia is steadily taking formal control as its armed forces seize military installations across the peninsula.
National security and defence council secretary Andriy Parubiy said that Ukraine will seek UN support to turn Crimea into a demilitarized zone as it seeks to relocate armed forces to the mainland.
Ukraine’s military, which is heavily outnumbered in Crimea, has come under increased pressure since the region was nominally incorporated into Russia on Tuesday.
Earlier, masked Russian-speaking troops seized control over Ukraine’s naval headquarters in the city of Sevastopol. A Ukrainian navy commander was also detained during that operation.
In a warning to Moscow, US vice-president Joe Biden said America will respond to any aggression against its Nato allies, which include neighbours of Russia.
Standing side by side with a pair of Baltic leaders in Vilnius, Lithuania, Mr Biden said the US was “absolutely committed” to defending its allies, adding that president Barack Obama plans to seek concrete commitments from Nato members to ensure the alliance can safeguard its collective security.
“Russia cannot escape the fact that the world is changing and rejecting outright their behaviour,” he said, after meeting Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite and Latvian president Andris Berzins. Earlier today, masked Russian-speaking troops seized control over Ukraine’s naval headquarters in the city of Sevastopol. A Ukrainian navy commander was also detained during the operation.
The several hundred militiamen who captured the base in Sevastopol met no resistance. Sevastopol is also the home port of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and tens of thousands of Russian-led troops are now patrolling Crimea.
It came a day after a confrontation between Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian militia left two dead.
The Russian-speaking troops, who arrived on the base after the storming, wore helmets, flak jackets and uniforms with no identifying insignia. By afternoon, they were in full control of the naval headquarters, a set of three-storey boxy white concrete buildings with blue trim. It was not immediately clear how many, if any, Ukrainian servicemen remained on the base.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said no one was injured in the raid, which it said was led by pro-Russian militiamen and Cossacks.
The ministry said in its statement that Rear Admiral Sergei Haiduk was detained by unknown people after the storming of the fleet headquarters. The Russian state Itar-Tass news agency reported that he was being questioned by Crimean prosecutors.
Ukraine’s defence minister and deputy prime minister were denied entry to Crimea yesterday.