UKRAINE Crimea Lawmakers Request Russia To Let Them Join The Russian Federation 06Mar2014
How To Go To Heaven: Please Subscribe The Crimean has formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum showed overwhelming support for Moscow...
By: Elizabeth Cribbs
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UKRAINE Crimea Lawmakers Request Russia To Let Them Join The Russian Federation 06Mar2014 - Video
Ukraine's fledgling government ordered troops to retreat from Crimea on Monday, ending days of wavering as Western leaders tried to present a unified response to Russia's increasingly firm control of the peninsula.
Russian forces have been systematically seizing Ukrainian ships and military installations in Crimea, including a naval base near the eastern Crimean port of Feodosia, where two injured servicemen were taken captive on Monday and as many as 80 were detained on-site, Ukrainian officials said.
With the storming of at least three military facilities over the past three days alone and the decision by some to switch to the Russian side it wasn't clear how many Ukrainian troops remained on the peninsula. The former chief of Ukraine's navy, who was charged with treason after he swore allegiance to the Crimean authorities and urged others to defect, was named a deputy chief of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Ukrainian Acting President Oleksandr Turchnynov, whose new government has struggled to maintain control and cohesion, said the Defense Ministry was ordered to withdraw all servicemen in Crimea to Ukraine's mainland.
The situation in Ukraine is set to dominate U.S. President Barack Obama's agenda as he begins a week of international travel in the Netherlands, where he was set to attend a nuclear security summit. The event has been overshadowed by hurriedly scheduled talks on Ukraine among the Group of Seven industrialized economies the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
"We're united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far," Obama said.
Speaking to leading lawmakers in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, Turchnynov said Ukrainian troops would be evacuated with their families in response to unspecified threats from what he termed occupying Russian forces.
The interim government in Kiev has been criticized for its indecision over Ukrainian troops in Crimea, where Russian forces have steadily gained control of bases and ships. Over the weekend, Russian troops stormed the Belbek air force base near Sevastopol and detained the commander.
Tired of weeks of tensions and uncertainty and Kiev's indecision, some Ukrainian troops were leaving their bases. In the bay of Donuzlav in western Crimea, the crew of the Ukrainian navy ship Konstantin Olshanskiy were packing up and leaving Monday.
"We aren't rats, we aren't running," said one sailor, who only gave his first name of Yevgeny to discuss a sensitive subject. "Why should we have stayed, what we would have accomplished?"
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KIEV: Ukraine on Monday ordered its troops to withdraw from Crimea following the flashpoint peninsula's seizure and annexation by Russia in response to the fall in Kiev of a pro-Kremlin regime.
The dramatic announcement came just as world leaders gathered in The Hague for a nuclear security summit dominated by concern over the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
A top commander in NATO had warned on Sunday that the Western military alliance was carefully watching massive Russian troop formations on the eastern border of Ukraine that could theoretically make a push across the vast ex-Soviet country at any point.
Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov told top lawmakers that both servicemen and their families would now be relocated on the mainland.
"The national security and defence council has reached a decision, under instructions from the defence ministry, to conduct a redeployment of military units stationed in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," Turchynov said in nationally televised remarks.
"The cabinet of ministers has instructions to resettle the families of soldiers as well as everyone else who today is forced to leave their homes under the pressure and aggression of the Russian army's occupying forces."
Crimea's pro-Kremlin deputy premier Rustam Temirgaliyev told Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency that "all Ukrainian soldiers have either switched to the Russian side or are leaving the territory of Crimea."
Turchynov's announcement came less than a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin won authorisation to use force in response to the February 22 ouster of pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych regime by more nationalist leaders who are seeking a closer alliance with Europe.
Ukraine's heavily outnumbered forces had been steadily losing ground on the Black Sea peninsula and saw their main airbase outside the regional capital Simferopol stormed by Russian troops on Saturday.
The assault by Russian forces and pro-Kremlin militias continued on Monday with the fall of a Ukrainian naval base in the east Crimean port of Feodosia.
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Peter Leonard, The Associated Press Published Monday, March 24, 2014 6:10AM EDT Last Updated Monday, March 24, 2014 9:33AM EDT
KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's fledgling government ordered troops to withdraw from Crimea on Monday, ending days of wavering as Russian troops consolidate control over the peninsula.
Russian forces have been systematically seizing Ukrainian ships and military installations in Crimea, including a naval base near the eastern Crimean port of Feodosia, where two wounded servicemen were taken captive on Monday and as many as 80 were detained on-site, Ukrainian officials said.
With the storming of at least three military facilities over the past three days alone, it wasn't clear how many Ukrainian troops remained on the peninsula. Acting President Oleksandr Turchnynov said the Defence Ministry was instructed to redeploy all servicemen in Crimea to Ukraine's mainland, in remarks confirmed by his office.
The situation in Ukraine is set to dominate U.S. President Barack Obama's agenda as he begins a week of international travel in the Netherlands, where is set to attend a nuclear security summit. The two-day summit has been expected to be the focus of Obama's visit, but the event will now be overshadowed by hurriedly scheduled talks on Ukraine among the Group of Seven industrialized economies -- the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Speaking to leading lawmakers in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Turchnynov said Ukrainian troops would be evacuated with their families amid unspecified threats from what he termed occupying Russian forces.
Over the weekend, Russian forces stormed the Belbek air force base near Sevastopol and detained the commander.
The interim government in Kyiv has been criticized for its indecision over Ukrainian troops in Crimea.
Russia completed its annexation of Crimea last week, after its troops took control over the Ukrainian region following the ouster of a Kremlin-friendly government in Kyiv.
Moscow says its absorption of Crimea has been rendered legitimate by a referendum held earlier this month in which the bulk of voters in the peninsula approved the move, but the process has come under sustained criticism from the international community.
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KIEV, Ukraine A Ukrainian air force commander is being held after his base in Crimea was stormed by pro-Russian forces, and the acting president called for his release Sunday.
Col. Yuliy Mamchur is the commander of the Belbek Air Force base near Sevastopol, which was taken over Saturday by forces who sent armored personnel carriers smashing through the bases walls and fired shots and stun grenades. One Ukrainian serviceman was reported wounded in the clash. It was unclear if the forces, who didnt bear insignia, were Russian military or local pro-Russia militia.
Ukraine President Oleksandr Turchynov, in a statement, said Mamchur was abducted by the forces. He didnt specify where Mamchur is believed to be held.
However, prominent politician Vitali Klitschko said Sunday that Mamchur is being held by the Russian military in a jail in Sevastopol, the Crimean city that is the base of Russias Black Sea Fleet.
Klitschko was one of the leaders of the three months of protests in Ukraine that culminated in late February with President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and interim authorities taking power before a May 25 presidential election. The protests were triggered by Yanukovychs decision to reject a deal for closer ties with the European Union and turn to Moscow instead.
Yanukovychs ouster was denounced by Russia and much of Ukraines ethnic Russian population as a coup. Soon thereafter, Russian forces took control of Crimea and the region held a referendum to break off from Ukraine and join Russia.
Russia formally annexed Crimea last week, a move that Western countries say is illegitimate. The U.S. and the EU have imposed sanctions on Russia in the dispute, but Moscow appears unmoved.
On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said the Russian flag was now flying over 189 military facilities in Crimea. It didnt specify whether any Ukrainian military operations there remained under Ukrainian control.
At a Ukrainian marines base in Feodosia, troops were negotiating with Russian forces on handing over the base, Lt. Anatoly Mozgovoi told The Associated Press. The marines were loading 50-caliber machine guns into armored personnel carriers to take them to the base armory, but Mozgovoi said they hope to hold on to heavy weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades and cannon.
I think from my personal opinion, the Russian Federation has enough weapons, he said.
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