| CNN | - |
Kiev,
Ukraine (CNN) -- Russian forces moved Saturday to consolidate control
over Crimea. Six Russian special forces' armored personnel carriers
broke through the gates of Belbek Airbase, firing warning shots into the
air, a spokesman for Ukraine's Ministry ...
Russia moves to consolidate control over Crimea
updated 1:16 PM EDT, Sat March 22, 2014
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- "We must not allow a new division of Europe," says German foreign minister
- Russia takes over Ukraine's sole submarine
- Russia "reserves the right to give an adequate response" to EU sanctions -- official
- The international observers will keep an eye on security and human rights in Ukraine
Six Russian special
forces' armored personnel carriers broke through the gates of Belbek
Airbase, firing warning shots into the air, a spokesman for Ukraine's
Ministry of Defense in Crimea, Vladislav Seleznyov, told CNN.
One journalist was injured in the attack, he said.
Once inside, the Russians lined up the Ukrainians in one place, he said.
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In a separate incident,
pro-Russian self-defense forces stormed the Novofederoskoe military
base, also in Crimea, taking control of it, a Ukraine Defense Ministry
spokesman said Saturday.
Ukrainian forces on the
base threw smoke bombs during the incident and retreated to the base's
headquarters, according to Seleznev, in a Facebook posting.
The base's aviation brigade then sang the Ukrainian national anthem, lowered the Ukrainian flag and left the base, he said.
The White House reacted by urging Russia to open talks with the Ukrainian government.
"As we have said, the
Russian military is directly responsible for any casualties that its
forces -- whether they be regular uniformed troops or irregulars without
insignias -- inflict on Ukrainian military members," said Laura Lucas
Magnuson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, in a
statement.
The reports "highlight
the dangerous situation created by Russia and belie President Putin's
claim that Russia's military intervention in Crimea has brought security
to that part of Ukraine."
The incidents occurred
as international observers were set to arrive in Ukraine to monitor the
security and human rights situation in a posting expected to last at
least six months.
But they will not enter
the contested region of Crimea, a statement from the Russian Foreign
Ministry said, because this "became part of Russia."
Moscow annexed the
territory this week following a controversial snap referendum there that
produced an overwhelming majority of votes in favor of leaving Ukraine
to join Russia.
The Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe will eventually deploy a total of 100
observers throughout Ukraine in hopes of "reducing tensions and
fostering peace, stability and security." They will also check that the
rights of ethnic minorities are being protected.
Advance teams were to be deployed within 24 hours, the OSCE said Friday.
The regional security
organization may widen the mission to include 400 more monitors, and
extend it for a second six-month period if requested by the Kiev
government.
Russia, which is one of the OSCE's 57 member states, approved the mission, according to state-run Russian news agency, RIA Novosti.
Russia's Foreign
Ministry said it hoped the observers' work would "help to overcome the
internal Ukrainian crisis, stop rampant nationalist banditry, eradicate
ultra-radical tendencies, help achieve national reconciliation and
social respect, political, linguistic, educational, cultural and
religious rights of the people in all regions of Ukraine."
Russia has previously
said it reserves the right to enter Ukrainian territory to protect
ethnic Russians from what it says is a threat from ultra-nationalists
and fascists.
Meanwhile, European
leaders have demanded that independent monitors be granted access to the
Crimean peninsula, which Russia now calls its own territory.
OSCE monitors made
multiple attempts to enter Crimea during the height of the crisis when
pro-Russian militias took control of the region. But armed men at the
borders turned them back.
Ukraine, the United States and other Western powers maintain that the Black Sea peninsula is still a part of Ukraine.
"We must not allow a new
division of Europe," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
said Saturday in Kiev, where he met with with Ukrainian Prime Minister
Arseny Yatsenyuk and acting President Oleksandr Turchinov.
Yatsenyuk also met
Saturday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who then reiterated
that any solution must be a diplomatic one and called for direct talks
between Kiev and Moscow, the U.N. spokesperson said in a statement.
Kiev going West
Yatsenyuk signed the
political elements of a trade pact with the European Union on Friday as
Russian lawmakers finalized annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.
The signing in Brussels
signaled Europe's solidarity with Ukraine and carries additional
symbolic force. It was the decision by Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovych in November to ditch the trade pact in favor of closer ties
with Russia that triggered the protests that led to his ouster in
February and spiraled into the current crisis.
On Saturday, Ukraine's
Chief Prosecutor Oleg Mohnitsky, Deputy Prosecutor Alexei Baganets, and
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told reporters that raids carried out
Friday on apartments and offices linked to two of Yanukovych's cabinet
members had turned up signs of corruption -- millions of dollars in
cash, gold and jewels.
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Russian President
Vladimir Putin, flanked by the speakers of both houses of parliament,
signed a treaty Friday finalizing the accession to Russia of the Crimea
region and its port city of Sevastopol.
Russia's Black Sea fleet
is based in Sevastopol, making it strategically important to Moscow.
The region also has a majority ethnic Russian population and long
historical ties to Russia.
Although Russia insists
that its actions are legitimate, Ukraine's interim government has said
Kiev will never stop fighting for Crimea.
The Ukrainian Naval
Fleet's sole submarine has been taken over by the Russians, a spokesman
for Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Saturday.
The Zaporizhia was taken
over and placed under the flag of the Russian naval fleet when its
commander abandoned it after deciding not to join with Russian forces,
spokesman Vladislav Seleznev told CNN.
The incident occurred near Sevastopol, in Striletska Bay.
The Soviet-era
diesel-electric submarine is more than 40 years old, but was upgraded by
Russian engineers a couple of years ago, according to the state-run
news agency Ria Novosti.
Fighting for Crimea
Moscow has doggedly
pursued its own course even as Western leaders have denounced its
actions as violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and a breach of
international law.
President Barack Obama plans to meet with leaders of the G7 group of industrialized nations next week to discuss Ukraine.
Russia has been excluded from the talks on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in the Netherlands.
A planned EU-Russia summit has also been canceled, as the West seeks to increase Moscow's isolation over its actions in Ukraine.
And a spokesman for the
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said Friday he had canceled a planned
high-level trade visit to Moscow in October.
That step followed a new
round of sanctions imposed by EU leaders Thursday against 12
individuals. Those sanctions brought to 33 the total number of people
facing EU asset freezes and travel bans.
Russian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich dismissed the latest move by EU leaders
in a statement posted to the Foreign Ministry website Saturday.
"It is a pity that the
European Council adopted a decision which is divorced from reality," he
said. "Russia reserves the right to give an adequate response to the
undertaken action."
The United States
announced its own new round of sanctions on Thursday against 20
individuals and a bank which U.S. officials say is linked to Putin and
senior Russian officials. Washington had already announced sanctions on
11 individuals.
Further sanctions which
would target Russia's economic interests are threatened by both the
European Union and the United States if Moscow does not act to
deescalate the situation.
Travel warning
The United States is
keeping a close eye on the large scale drills Russia's military are
conducting near Ukraine's eastern border with the country.
U.S. National Security
Adviser Susan Rice said Friday it's "not clear" what is signaled by
Russia massing its forces near the border -- and suggested Washington is
wary.
"The Russians have
stated that they are intending military exercises," she said.
"Obviously, given their past practice and the gap between what they have
said and what they have done, we are watching it with skepticism."
Rice also praised the Ukrainian people and government for their "enormous restraint in the face of obvious provocation."
She added, "They've made
clear that their interest is in a unified, democratic future that is
... in an existence at peace with both Russia and with western Europe
and the United States."
The U.S. State Department also issued a travel warning for Ukraine Friday.
It cautioned U.S.
citizens "to defer all non-essential travel to Ukraine and to defer all
travel to the Crimean Peninsula and eastern regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk
and Lugansk due to the presence of Russian military forces in the
Crimean Peninsula."
While the transition to a
new government has been largely peaceful, some clashes have broken out
in eastern regions, the State Department said, and "groups advocating
closer ties to Russia have taken on a more strident anti-American tone,
especially in Crimea."
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