Just days after Crimean residents voted to succeed from Ukraine, Russian troops and pro-Russian self-defensive units took over a naval headquarters base in Sevastopol Wednesday.
Shortly after the event, the Ukrainian flag at the base was replaced with the Russian flag and Ukrainian servicemen were seen leaving without incident.
Oleksander Balanyuk, a captain in the navy, told Reuters he felt the takeover should have been avoided. “This morning they stormed the compound. They cut the gates open, but I heard no shooting,” he said. “This thing should have been solved politically. Now all I can do is stand here at the gate. There is nothing else I can do,”
In charge of the so-called “self-defense” units, Viktor Melnikov told reporters at the scene that negotiations for surrender were ongoing. “We’ve had difficult negotiations with the command here,” he said. “Some Ukrainian servicemen are already leaving, without their uniforms, but there was no violence…we wanted to set free the prisoners in the base that are being illegitimately held there by their commander.”
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine’s Prime Minister said he was sending his deputy and defense minister to Crimea to “resolve the situation.” Sergei Aksyonov, Crimea’s acting leader, said the delegation sent by Yatsenyuk was unwanted and would be sent back. “Nobody wants them in Crimea. Nobody will let them in, they will be sent back,” he said.
Putin accepts Crimea and violence erupts
The takeover also comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Crimea and a Ukrainian serviceman was killed in a shooting incident.
Putin denied in a speech any wrongdoing by Russia over the goings on in Crimea and reiterated the annexation of Crimea was legal. Hours after his speech Ukrainian military sources said a sniper killed a junior officer and injured another servicemen after an assault on a base by “unknown forces, fully equipped and their faces covered.”
The incident caused the Ukrainian government in Kiev to issue an authorization for its military to use weapons to defend themselves. Ukraine’s prime minister called the incident a war crime and suggested the conflict in Ukraine is “moving from a political to a military one.”
Russian parliament is expected to vote on the annexation of Crimea on Wednesday.
During a visit to Poland to help reassure Russia’s neighbors, Vice President Joe Biden said Putin and Russia were “naked before the world” and said their sole purpose was to takeover Crimea. “Russia has offered a variety of arguments to justify what is nothing more than a land grab,” he said.
Why it matters: The Crimean crisis has become more and more like the Cold War, with both the United States and European nations in power struggle with Russia. The situation is slowly escalating as Russia is clearly ignoring outside pressure to leave Crimea and instead is moving along to absorb the region into Russia. It has become a battle over bravado and egos with each side trying to outdo the other with no end in sight.
Sources: Reuters,(1), The Guardian,(1)
– See original at: Modern Viewpoint
Brandon Buell's Portfolio 