Bloody clashes on the streets of Ukraine for the first time in a week as Putin gets his parliament's permission to send in Russian troops
- Russian president made application to deploy military across Ukraine
- The upper house of the parliament rubber-stamped it within hours
- Comes as tensions in the region soar, despite international calls for calm
- Ukrainian government accused Russia of an 'armed occupation'
- But Kremlin later stressed Putin had not decided whether to use the troops
- British and U.S. officials have both asked Russia to stay out of situation
- Pro-EU activists elsewhere in Ukraine were injured in clashes today
- Supporters of Putin stormed government buildings and raised Russian flag
- Russian-sympathising Crimea declared a new prime minister Thursday
- He called on Putin for help and claimed authority over the military
- But officials in Kiev say that his election was illegitimate
- President Obama has warned 'there will be costs' if Russia intervenes
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has been granted permission by his parliament this afternoon to use the country's military in Ukraine.
The move could formalise what Ukrainian officials described as an armed occupation taking place in the strategic region of Crimea.
It came as supporters of Russia and the new Ukrainian government clashed elsewhere in the country, with bloodied protesters visible on the streets of Kharkiv after a show of strength from pro-Russian activists.
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'Occupied': An unidentified armed man stands over a crowd of people outside the regional parliament building in Simferopol. A member of the crowd is holding a Russian flag
Escalating: Holding automatic weapons, the armed men, thought to be Russian, patrol the area, where Russian sympathies are strong
'Invasion': These troops, amassed outside the Crimean town of Balaclava, have been decried by the Ukrainian government as an occupying force
Threatening: This heavily-armed soldier keeps watch in Simferopol, Crimea
In the motion to the Russian parliament's upper house, Mr Putin wrote: 'I'm submitting a request for using the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine pending the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country.'
The motion was approved within hours.
However, the Kremlin attempted to calm matters later by saying that Putin had not yet decided whether to use the troops, and that Russia hoped there would be 'no further escalation of events'.
In Crimea, the pro-Russian prime minister who took office after gunmen seized the regional parliament claimed control of the military and police there and asked Putin for help in keeping peace, sharpening the discord between the two neighboring Slavic countries.
Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov said the election of the election of Sergei Aksyonov as prime minister of Crimea was invalid.
Meanwhile dozens of people were hurt in clashes on Saturday when pro-Russia activists stormed the regional government's headquarters in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, and raised the Russian flag, local media said.
The UNIAN news agency said thousands of people had gathered outside the building during a protest against the country's new leaders who ousted President Viktor Yanukovich a week ago.
Pro-European activists were seen trying to recover after being overpowered by supporters of Russia after clashes at the local administration building in the northeastern city, which is mostly Russian-speaking.
Wounded protesters: Pro-European activists were bloodied today after clashes with activists who favour closer ties with Russia
Under attack: This supporter of the newly-established government was hurt at a demonstration in Karkiv in the north-east of the country
Attacks: Supporters of Russia smashed into this regional government building in the Kharkiv protests today
Foreign Secretary William Hague said today that Russian action was a 'potentially grave threat' to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
Mr Hague said he had spoken to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to urge steps to calm the situation, and had summoned the Russian ambassador to register Britain's concern.
He said: 'I am deeply concerned at the escalation of tensions in Ukraine, and the decision of the Russian parliament to authorise military action on Ukrainian soil against the wishes of the Ukrainian Government. We condemn any act of aggression against Ukraine.'
Mr Hague had already spoken to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to discuss international diplomatic action to address the crisis.
UKRAINE'S FURY OVER 'RUSSIAN MILITARY INTERVENTION' WHICH THREATENS NEW REGIME
The developments in the Crimea in recent days are the latest stage of the tug-of-war over Ukraine's future.
Since president Viktor Yanukovych was forced out of Kiev last week an interim leader has taken over and formed a new government after weeks of bloody protests.
But the new regime has already run into difficulty due to the unrest in Crimea, where most people are ethnically Russian.
After the armed men stormed the parliament, a new pro-Russian prime minister for the Crimean region was elected.
Sergei Aksenov has called on Russian president Vladimir Putin for help keeping the peace.
The development marks a sharp divide between the Crimean region and the rest of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, troops thought to be under Russian control have seized airports and border points.
Some fear it could be the beginnings of an attempt to annex the region, which was once part of the Soviet Union.
The new Ukrainian government has characterised the moves as an 'armed invasion' which violates international agreements.
Ukrainian military were put on high alert this morning in the region, as defence minister Ihor Tenyukh accused Russia of moving 6,000 additional troops into the country.
The government has accused Moscow of deploying troops in Crimea, where Russia's Black Sea fleet has a base, but Russia insists that the maneuvers are covered by an agreement with Ukraine covering its use of the base.
The Russian government was warned yesterday by President Obama against intervening in the region, which he said must be allowed to choose its own fate.
The disorder in the region escalated this morning as the Russian-supporting prime minister of the Crimea region, which was already partly autonomous, claimed control of all military, police and other security services in the region. He also issued a direct appeal to Mr Putin for assistance.
In a statement reported by Russian news agencies, Mr Aksenov declared that the armed forces, the police, the national security service and border guards will answer only to his orders. He said any commanders who don't agree should leave their posts.
The development comes after more armed men, thought to be Russian, took control of key airports and a communications center in the Crimea.
The Ukrainian government has accused Russia of a 'military invasion and occupation' - a claim that brought an alarming new dimension to the crisis, and raised fears that Moscow is moving to annex a strategic peninsula where Russia's Black Sea fleet is based.
Patrols: Armed men were seen outside the parliament building this morning as well, from where the regional prime minister claimed control of the military and police in the region
Dug in: These men have taken position outside the parliament with makeshift machine gun emplacements
Unrest: The regional prime minister of the Crimea today claimed power over security forces and asked for Russian help
Claimed control: Sergei Aksyonov, the pro-Russian prime minister of the Crimea, claimed control of security forces today, though the Ukrainian government has said his election on Thursday is invalid
Ukraine's population is divided in loyalties between Russia and the West, with much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the European Union while eastern and southern regions, such as the Crimea, look to Russia for support.
He said: 'Any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing'.
The President added that action by Russia would not help the Ukrainian people, Russia or Europe, Obama, and would represent a 'profound interference' in matters that must be decided by the Ukrainian people.
'Just days after the world came to Russia for the Olympic Games, that would invite the condemnation of nations around the world,' Mr Obama said. 'The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine.'
He did not say what those costs might be.
Mr Obama has called on Russia to respect the independence and territory of Ukraine and not try to take advantage of its neighbor, which is undergoing political upheaval.
DRAMATIC CCTV EMERGES OF HEAVILY-ARMED MEN STORMING CRIMEAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING
The images show the dramatic moment armed men stormed a Ukrainian government building amid soaring tensions in the country's Crimea region.
Masked soldiers, said to be under Russian instruction, gather outside the door before forcing their way in to the regional parliament building in the Crimean city of Simferopol.
Stormed: The armed men gather outside the regional parliament building in Simferopol before battering down the door
Smoke canisters can be seen exploding inside the building as the men, holding silenced machine guns, usher out security personal in what appears to be an early-morning raid.
The footage, dated from Thursday, emerges today after armed men seized airports and set up road blocks around the vital city amid soaring tensions between the new Ukrainian authorities and Russia.
'These are separate groups ... [are] commanded by the Kremlin,' Mr Parubiy, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, told a news briefing in Kiev.
Smoke attack: The armed men threw canisters in before entering the parliament
Charge in: The armed men burst into the building in the footage, which emerged today
Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region on Friday in what Ukraine's government described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces, stoking tension between Moscow and the West
A Russian soldier on an armoured personnel carrier halted on a road in Ukraine around 20 miles from Sebastapol, where there is a large Russian military presence. British civilians have been told by the Foreign Office to leave Crimea immediately, although an evacuation has not been arranged.
Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region on Friday in what Ukraine's government described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces, stoking tension between Moscow and the West
Crimea, a southeastern peninsula of Ukraine that has semi-autonomous status, was seized by Russian forces in the 18th century under Catherine the Great.
It became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred jurisdiction from Russia, a move that was a mere formality until the 1991 Soviet collapse, which left the region part of an independent Ukraine.
John Kerry, left and right President Putin. Speaking at a news conference with the foreign minister of Colombia, Kerry said he had raised the issue of the airports as well as reports of Russian armored vehicles and personnel in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
Earlier yesterday, Ukraine's fugitive president resurfaced in Russia to deliver a defiant attack on what he described as the 'bandit coup' which ousted him.
Appearing for the first time since fleeing Ukraine last week, Viktor Yanukovych vowed to 'keep fighting for the future of Ukraine,' but ruled out seeking Russian military help.
'Any military action in this situation is unacceptable,' Yanukovych told reporters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, near the border with Ukraine. He tried to reinforce his point by snapping a pen, but wasn't able to break it.
Meanwhile at the United Nations, the Ukrainian ambassador, Yuriy Sergeyev, said that 10 Russian transport aircraft and 11 attack helicopters had arrived in Crimea illegally, and that Russian troops had taken control of two airports in Crimea.
He described the gunmen posted outside the two airports as Russian armed forces as well as 'unspecified' units.
Ukraine's ex-President Yanukovych has made his first public appearance since being ousted, telling a news conference that he was going to fight for his country's future
This afternoon Yanukovych told a news conference in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don: 'I intend to keep fighting for the future of Ukraine against those who are using fear and terror to seize the country'
Mr Sergeyev said 'Some of them identified themselves as Russians. We know specifically some of the units.' He also said the Russians had captured the main air traffic control center on Crimea.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian border service, said eight Russian transport planes landed in the Crimea Peninsula with unknown cargo.
According to the agency, the Il-76 planes arrived unexpectedly and were given permission to land, one after the other, at Gvardeiskoye air base, north of the regional capital, Simferopol.
The spokesman said the people in the planes refused to identify themselves and waved off customs officials, saying they didn't require their services.
Earlier on Friday, reporters in Crimea saw a convoy of nine Russian armored personnel carriers on a road between the port city of Sevastopol, where the Russian base is, and Simferopol. Later in the day, the airspace was closed over the peninsula, apparently due to tensions at the two airports.
Oleksandr Turchynov, who stepped in as president after Yanukovych fled Kiev last weekend, urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop 'provocations' in Crimea and pull back military forces from the peninsula.
Russian military forces are blockading an airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea, an act Ukraine's new interior minister has announced branded an 'armed invasion'
As events in the Crimea region heighten tensions with neighboring Russia, this morning armed men also took over the other main Crimean airport, Simferopol, according to a Facebook post by Mr Avakov
Dozens of armed men in military uniforms without markings were seen patrolling the airport in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea
The move came as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Ukraine's new prime minister that the U.S. welcomes the formation of the country's new government
Turchynov said the Ukrainian military would fulfill its duty but would not be drawn into provocations.
In Kiev, Ukraine's newly named interior minister accused Russia of military aggression.
'I can only describe this as a military invasion and occupation,' Arsen Avakov wrote in a Facebook post.
In recent conversations between U.S. and Russian officials, including a lengthy telephone conversation between Mr Obama and Mr Putin just last week, Mr Obama said the U.S. has made clear that Russia can be part of an international community's effort to support the stability and success of Ukraine.
But, he said on Friday that he was 'deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine'.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power told reporters that the United States was proposing an urgent mediation mission to help resolve the crisis.
Russia is supposed to notify Ukraine of any troop movements outside the Black Sea Fleet naval base it maintains in Sevastopol under a lease agreement with Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the military vehicles were deployed to ensure the security of its base, which didn't contradict the lease terms.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it had no information about the vehicles' movements.
Reporters approaching the Sevastopol airport found the road leading to it blocked by two military trucks and a handful of gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying assault rifles.
A car with Russian military plates was stopped at the roadblock. A man wearing a military uniform with a Russian flag on his sleeve got out of the car and was allowed to enter on foot after a brief discussion with the gunmen.
Meanwhile, Ukraine International Airlines said it had canceled flights to and from the Simferopol airport on Friday evening and Saturday because of the closure of the airspace over Crimea. The announcement did not say who had ordered the closure.
At the airport, dozens of armed men in military uniforms without markings patrolled the area. They didn't stop or search people leaving or entering, and refused to talk to journalists.
One man who identified himself only as Vladimir said the men were part of the Crimean People's Brigade, which he described as a self-defense unit ensuring that no 'radicals and fascists' arrive from other parts of Ukraine. There was no way to verify his account.
In Kiev, the prosecutor-general's office said it would seek Yanukovych's extradition to Ukraine, where he is wanted on suspicion of mass murder in violent clashes last week between protesters and police that left more than 80 people dead.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's telecom provider, Ukrtelecom JSC, said unknown people seized several communications centers in the Crimea late Friday, knocking out the company's ability to connect the peninsula with the rest of the country.
The statement on the company's website said there were almost no landline, Internet or mobile services operating in the Crimea.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2570797/Dramatic-CCTV-footage-emerges-moment-suspected-Russian-military-STORM-Crimean-parliament-building-gas-masks-armed-silenced-machine-guns.html#ixzz2ujWTdXcV
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