8/12/2019 Crimea Tensions Rise as Russians Take Ukraine Naval Base

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Crimea tensions rise as Russians take Ukraine naval base

WEDNESDAY  19 MARCH 201Militar! tensions are set to es"alate on t#e Crimean $eninsula as Russian %or"es take

over a naval #ea&'uarters( an& Ukraine sa!s its troo$s )ill not )it#&ra) %rom t#e

re*ion+

Russian soldiers and so-called "self-defence" units moved in on the Ukraine

naval headquarters in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol early on

Wednesday morning and quickly took control.

Ukrainian servicemen, unarmed and in civilian clothing, have een seen

leaving the ase, and three Russian flags have een hoist at the facility.

"!his morning they stormed the compound. !hey cut the gates open, ut

heard no shooting," said #leksander $alanyuk, a captain in the navy.

8/12/2019 Crimea Tensions Rise as Russians Take Ukraine Naval Base

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"!his thing should have een solved politically. %o& all can do is stand

here at the gate. !here is nothing else can do."

,We )ill sta!, !he incident is a sign of rising military tensions on the peninsula as 'osco&

asserts its control the day after signing a treaty &ith the Russian-installed

Crimean government to cede the region.

Shortly after the incident, Ukraine(s acting defence minister said Ukrainian

forces &ould not &ithdra& from the area.

)sked y *ournalists follo&ing a government meeting in +iev, hor

 !enyukh, a memer of the far-right Svooda party, said "%o. We &ill stay."

)t the $elek air ase on the outskirts of Simferopol, Ukrainian forces

remain in control and have een given an order to use their &eapons to

defence the facility.

)n officer reading an order from Ukraine(s defence ministry, said "'ilitary

units located in the )utonomous Repulic of Crimea are allo&ed to use

&eapons if there is a direct threat to their lives."

8/12/2019 Crimea Tensions Rise as Russians Take Ukraine Naval Base

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#vernight Ukrainian troops moved closer to Crimea. )nti-tank trenches are

eing dug in onetsk and near Ukraine(s eastern order &ith Russia at

%ovoaovsk.

/arlier in the &eek, the Ukrainian government in +iev ordered the partial

moilisation of 01,111 reservist troops.

,War "rime, !he military tensions follo& the death of a Ukrainian soldier on !uesday in

Crimea(s main city, Simferopol 2 the first death in Crimea from a military

clash since the region came under Russian control.

Ukraine(s 3rime 'inister 4atsenyuk denounced the death as a "&ar crime".

#n !uesday Russian 3resident 5ladimir 3utin passionately defended the

anne6ation of Crimea, saying that Crimea &as an "inalienale" part of

Russia.

7o&ever, Ukraine and &estern po&ers have denounced a referendum on

the &eekend in &hich 89 per cent of the population &as reported to have

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voted to *oin Russia. !he most recent poll of Crimeans, conducted a month

ago &hilst 3resident 5iktor 4anukovych &as still in po&er, said that *ust 0:

per cent of Crimeans &ere in favour of *oining Russia.

'ean&hile the US has sent a guided-missile destroyer to the $lack Sea, in a

move that it said &ould "reassure allies that &e support them."

 !he !ru6tun *oined $ulgarian and Romanian navies for a one-day military

e6ercise &hich &as descried as "routine" and something that had een

planned &ell efore the Crimean crisis.

"!here are many reasons for e6ercises &ith allies, it allo&s us an

opportunity to assure our %)!# allies that &e support them," Sha&n /klund,

a pulic affairs officer for US %aval ;orces /urope said.

,At t#e $oint o% a -alas#nikov,#n Wednesday, avid Cameron issued a &arning to Russia that it faces

e6clusion from the <= if it takes further steps in Ukraine.

" think &e should e discussing &hether or not to e6pel Russia

permanently from the <= if further steps are taken," the prime minister told

the 7ouse of Commons.

'r Cameron added that the Crimea referendum &as "spatchcocked

together in ten days and held at the point of a Russian +alashnikov."

Posted by Thavam