Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region today in what Ukraine's government described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces, raising tension between Moscow and the West.
Russia’s Black Sea fleet, which is based in the region, denied its forces were involved in seizing one of the airports, Interfax news agency reported, while a supporter described the group at the other site merely as Crimean militiamen.
Amid the confusion over the men’s identity, acting president Oleksander Turchinov called an emergency session of his security chiefs, while parliament urged Moscow to halt any action that might encourage separatism and asked the United Nations Security Council to discuss the crisis.
Tensions have been rising on the Black Sea peninsula, the only Ukrainian region that has an ethnic Russian majority and the last major bastion of resistance to the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovich as president almost a week ago.
Interior minister Arsen Avakov accused Russian naval forces of taking over a military airport near the port of Sevastopol, where the Black Sea fleet has its base, and other Russian forces of seizing Simferopol’s civilian international airport.
“I consider what has happened to be an armed invasion and occupation in violation of all international agreements and norms,” Mr Avakov said on his Facebook page, describing it as a “provocation” and calling for talks.
This met with a Russian denial of involvement in the military airport action. “No Black Sea Fleet units have moved toward (the airport), let alone taking any part in blockading it,” Interfax quoted a spokesman for the fleet as saying.
Mr Yanukovich is expected to appear before reporters in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don later today, though President Vladimir Putin has not said whether Moscow will harbour the former leader, who is on the run and wanted by the new government for mass murder after the deaths of protestors in Kiev last week.
The United States has told Russia to show in the next few days that it is sincere about a promise not to intervene in Ukraine, saying using force would be a grave mistake.
“We believe that everybody now needs to take a step back and avoid any kind of provocations,” US secretary of state John Kerry told a joint news conference with German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
“We want to see in the next days ahead that the choices Russia makes conform to this affirmation we received today.”
The Kremlin said Putin had ordered his government to continue talks with Ukraine on economic and trade relations and to consult foreign partners including the International Monetary Fund on financial aid.
It also said Mr Putin ordered the government to consider a request from Crimea for humanitarian aid but made no direct reference to the latest events.
Mr Yanukovich provoked protests in Ukraine in November by backing out of plans to sign landmark deals with the European Union and instead saying Kiev would seek closer economic and trade ties with its former Soviet master Russia.
In December, Mr Putin promised Mr Yanukovich a $15 billion bailout, but Russia has put the deal on hold after releasing an initial instalment, saying it wants more clarity about the new government and its policies.
Ukraine’s hryvnia currency has been in freefall in recent days as investors worried about Kiev’s ability to repay its debts.
But with the new rulers seeking IMF help, it bounced back 5 per cent to 10.50 per dollar today, according to Reuters data, from the record low of 11.0 reached on Thursday.
Prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk said Ukraine hoped to begin receiving international aid soon and was determined to fulfil conditions needed for IMF support.
A previous deal collapsed after Kiev failed to implement IMF demands for lower gas subsidies, which would have hurt Ukrainians by pushing up energy prices sharply.
The IMF also wanted a more flexible currency regime, something that has now come about as Kiev gave up this week its attempts to arrest the hryvnia’s slide, which had burnt through its dollar reserves.
Central bank Governor Stepan Kubiv also said foreign currency withdrawals from bank deposits would be limited to 15,000 hryvnia ($1,500) per day.
Kiev’s new rulers have said any movement by Russian forces beyond the Black Sea fleet base in Sevastopol would be tantamount to aggression.
But it faces a major challenge in Crimea which was Russian territory until it was transferred to Ukraine in 1954, during the Soviet era.
Separatism there has often flared up at times of tension between Moscow and Kiev. Unidentified gunmen seized the Crimean parliament and raised a Russian flag on Thursday.
The gunmen issued no demands and police were casually guarding the building.
Armed men took control of Simferopol airport overnight and were patrolling its grounds on Friday morning.
A Reuters eyewitness at the scene said the men, dressed in full battle gear and carrying assault rifles and machine guns, were moving freely in an out of the control tower.
A man called Vladimir, who said he was a volunteer helping the group, said: “I’m with the People’s Militia of Crimea.
We’re simple people, volunteers ... We’re here at the airport to maintain order. We’ll meet the planes with a nice smile - the airport is working as normal.”
The Belbek military airport near Sevastopol was taken over by what Avakov said were military units of the Russian fleet, and armed men in camouflage were guarding the perimeter fence.
One of the men was quoted as saying the aim was to prevent Mr Avakov flying to Crimea. “Tension is rising,” Avakov said. “While we don’t have direct military clashes, diplomats should talk.”
The regional parliament in Crimea managed to hold a session inside the building on Thursday despite the siege, where it voted to stage a referendum on “sovereignty” for Crimea.
Russia’s flag still flew from its roof, and lights were on in the windows of its top floor. It was not clear whether the armed men were still inside.
Acting-president Mr Turchinov warned Russia on Thursday not to move personnel beyond areas permitted by treaty for those using its naval base. “Any military movements, the more so if they are with weapons, beyond the boundaries of this territory will be seen by us as military aggression,” he said.
Russia has repeatedly declared it will defend the interests of its citizens in
Ukraine, and announced war games on Wednesday near the border, involving 150,000 troops on high alert.
Mr Kerry said Lavrov told him the exercises had been pre-planned. Although Moscow says it will not intervene by force, its rhetoric since the removal of its ally Mr Yanukovich has echoed the run-up to its invasion of Georgia in 2008, when it sent its troops to protect two self-declared independent regions and then recognised them as independent states.
Witness accounts suggest those who captured the Crimean parliament building in the early hours of Thursday were pro-Russian gunmen of some kind.
Reuters