Gunmen loyal to Ukraine's ousted president seize the Crimea regional
government building -- as the deposed Viktor Yanukovych issues a defiant
statement to Russian news agencies.
FULL STORY
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Dozens of armed men seized
the regional government administration buildings in Ukraine's southern
Crimean region Thursday and raised the Russian flag in a challenge to
the Eastern European country's new leaders.
Photos: Ukraine in transition
Tensions rise over Crimea
Ex-Ukraine leader under Russia protection
Fears of Ukraine split sparks protests
Ex-Pentagon official on Russia, Ukraine
Map of Crimea
February 27, 2014 -- Updated 2235 GMT (0635 HKT)
Dozens of gunmen seize the regional government building in Ukraine's
Crimea region, in a challenge to the country's new leaders. FULL STORY
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5 THINGS TO KNOW
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ANGER AND FEAR
Gunmen seize government buildings in Ukraine's Crimea, raise Russian flag
February 27, 2014 -- Updated 2149 GMT (0549 HKT)
Gunmen seize Crimean parliament
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Kerry says Russia reaffirms that the military exercises are not related to Ukraine
- U.S. defense chief says he's watching Russia closely, warns against provocation
- Pro-Russian members of Crimea's parliament dismiss region's Prime Minister
- Ousted Ukraine leader set to give news conference Friday in Russia, state media report
Crimea, a Black Sea
peninsula with an ethnic Russian majority, is the last big bastion of
opposition to the new political leadership in the capital, Kiev, after
President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster Saturday.
The seizure, coming a day
after Russia ordered surprise military exercises on Ukraine's doorstep,
has raised fears about the push and pull of opposing allegiances in a
country sandwiched between Russia and the European Union.
Photos: Ukraine in transition
Tensions rise over Crimea
Ex-Ukraine leader under Russia protection
There's a broad divide
between those who support developments in Kiev -- where parliament was
voting on an interim West-leaning, national unity government Thursday --
and those who back Russia's continued influence in Crimea and across
Ukraine.
Yanukovych issued a
defiant statement to Russian news agencies condemning the interim
government in Kiev and calling everything happening now in the Ukrainian
parliament illegitimate, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported
Thursday.
According to RIA Novosti,
anonymous government sources said Thursday that Yanukovych was in
Russia and that Russian authorities have accepted his request for
security. A warrant has been issued for his arrest in Ukraine.
Yanukovych will give a
news conference Friday in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don,
Russian state media reported. If so, it would be the first time he's
been seen in public since fleeing Kiev. CNN has not independently
confirmed Yanukovych's whereabouts.
Secession fears about Crimea
Concerns are building
that the tensions in the autonomous Crimean region might escalate into a
bid for separation by its Russian majority.
Pro-Russian members of
the Crimean parliament dismissed the government of Crimean Premier
Anatolii Mohyliov in a vote of no confidence Thursday, his spokesman
Andrey Demartino told CNN. He said Mohyliov would respect the parliament's decision, despite many procedural irregularities.
The lawmakers also voted for a referendum on May 25 on greater autonomy for the region within Ukrainian territory, he said.
Only pro-Russian lawmakers were present in the parliament building, still occupied by apparently pro-Russian gunmen.
Demartino quoted Mohyliov as saying the responsibility for Crimea's future stability rests with parliament.
Crimea was handed to
Ukraine by the Soviet Union in 1954. Just over half its population is
ethnic Russian, while about a quarter are Ukrainians and a little more
than 10% are Crimean Tatars, a group oppressed under former Soviet
leader Josef Stalin.
Many are struggling to
come to grips with the rapid political upheaval, and scuffles have
broken out between rival groups -- one pro-Russian and the other
supporting the new authorities in Kiev -- in the Crimean capital of
Simferopol.
New Ukraine Prime Minister's appointment
Fears of Ukraine split sparks protests
Ex-Pentagon official on Russia, Ukraine
Back in Kiev, lawmakers
approved opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk of the Batkivshchyna, or
Fatherland, party as Prime Minister.
Yatsenyuk, who has been
both economic and foreign minister in past governments, told reporters
that Yanukovych "is no longer the President, he is the person under
investigation and accused of crimes against humanity," state news agency
Ukrinform reported.
The new Prime Minister
told parliament that he cannot promise to turn things around quickly and
that there is likely to be pain in the short term as the cash-strapped
country seeks to get back on track.
He also made clear that
he believes the country's future rests in closer ties to Europe, not
Russia. "The key task for the Ukrainian government is European
integration," he said.
"It means a visa-free
regime for the Ukrainian citizens, and it means an agreement with the
European Union on political and economic integration; agreement on a
fully fledged free trade zone. The future of Ukraine is in Europe, and
Ukraine will become a member of the European Union."
Yanukovych's decision to
scrap a European Union trade deal in favor of one with Russia prompted
the protests, which began in November. Those protests devolved last week
into bloody street clashes between demonstrators and security forces
that left more than 80 people dead.
International Monetary
Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday her organization was ready to
respond to a request for assistance from Ukrainian authorities and
would send a fact-finding team to Ukraine to assess the situation and
discuss potential reforms. "We are also discussing with all our
international partners -- bilateral and multilateral -- how best to help
Ukraine at this critical moment in its history," she said.
Ukrainian authorities anticipate the country will need about $35 billion in foreign assistance by the end of 2015.
U.S. concerns about Russian military exercises
Map of Crimea
As Ukraine's interim
leaders work to restore stability, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel,
speaking at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium,
urged all parties to avoid "provocative actions" in Ukraine.
And he warned that the United States was keeping a sharp eye on Russia in light of its recent moves.
"I'm closely watching
Russia's military exercises along the Ukrainian border," he said. "I
expect Russia to be transparent about these activities, and I urge them
not to take any steps that could be misinterpreted or lead to
miscalculations."
This, he said, "is a time for very calm, wise leadership on the Russian side, on everyone's side here."
U.S. officials earlier
told CNN that the Russian military exercises were making U.S. military
and intelligence agencies concerned that Russia may be positioning
ground forces to be able to move across the border into Ukraine if
Moscow issued such orders.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said the exercises are being conducted to check "combat readiness."
U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry said his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,
offered reassurances Thursday that military exercises were previously
scheduled and not related to Ukraine.
"We believe that
everybody now needs to step back and avoid any kind of provocations, and
we want to see in the next days ahead obviously that the choices Russia
makes conform to this affirmation that we received today," he said
after a phone conversation with Lavrov.
"We are also making the
same point about reducing tensions in the Crimea to the Ukrainians. It
is very important that the process continue in a thoughtful and
respectful way."
No negotiations
In Simferopol, it was
not immediately known who was occupying the government buildings.
Mohyliov, the Crimean Prime Minister, told CNN earlier Thursday that the
gunmen had refused to speak with him, telling him he had no authority.
The men, who stormed the building early Thursday, had made no demands, and it was not clear what they wanted, he said.
He added that government
security forces, which were outside the buildings, would not use force
or weapons to take over the buildings.
"All police in Ukraine
have been ordered to be prepared," acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov
wrote on his Facebook page. "Orders have been issued to create a cordon
around the Parliament in Crimea and to avoid shooting and violence."
A witness, who gave his
name only as Maxim, said he saw the armed men run into the building and
kick out police. "Nobody knows what is going on inside at the moment. We
only saw the building being taken over," he said. He said the men took
bags containing antitank weapons, sniper rifles, assault rifles and
handguns from buses into the building.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
NATO's secretary general, described the seizure of the regional
government administration building and parliament as "dangerous and
irresponsible."
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