16:32
22.3.2014
Photo of Ukrainian submarine seized by Russia:
Russian forces have taken control of #Ukraine's only submarine in #Crimea, the Zaporozhye. http://t.co/lJhWVGdQq8 pic.twitter.com/0XumLIv0lc
— Just Hovens Greve (@JustHovensGreve) March 22, 2014
16:31
22.3.2014
.@ABC team safely off Belbek base. My Russian's rusty but remembered enough to convince special forces I didn't have a card on me. #Crimea
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) March 22, 2014
16:31
22.3.2014
And "freedom of the press" comes to Crimea:
Turns out the Russians searched every hack who was inside and confiscated any memory card they could find.
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) March 22, 2014
16:29
22.3.2014
These are the #Ukrainian airmen from #Belbek Air force base that is being taken by force. Via http://t.co/3c2nV28LG3 pic.twitter.com/40KS8GPyhI
— Just Hovens Greve (@JustHovensGreve) March 22, 2014
16:26
22.3.2014
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the first leader of a G-7 country to visit Kyiv since the fall of Viktor Yanukovych.
Here's AFP's report:
Here's AFP's report:
Canada's premier said Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to send troops into Crimea and annex it from Ukraine encourages aggrieved nations to "arm themselves to the teeth".
Stephen Harper, the first leader from the Group of Seven top industrialised powers to visit Kiev since last month's fall of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin regime, said the consequences of Putin's actions "will be felt far beyond the borders of Ukraine or even the European continent itself".
He cited a 1994 agreement under which Ukraine gave up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons in return for sovereignty guarantees from Russia and Western powers as the reason why some nations may now decide to stock up on nuclear weapons.
"By his open repudiation of the Budapest memorandum, President Putin has undermined international confidence in the protection afforded by such agreements," the Canadian leader said.
"Ukraine relinquished the nuclear weapons it inherited from the former Soviet Union on the basis of an explicit Russian guarantee of its territorial integrity.
"By breaching that guarantee, President Putin has provided a rationale for those elsewhere, who needed little more encouragement than that already furnished by pride or grievance, to arm themselves to the teeth."
Stephen Harper, the first leader from the Group of Seven top industrialised powers to visit Kiev since last month's fall of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin regime, said the consequences of Putin's actions "will be felt far beyond the borders of Ukraine or even the European continent itself".
He cited a 1994 agreement under which Ukraine gave up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons in return for sovereignty guarantees from Russia and Western powers as the reason why some nations may now decide to stock up on nuclear weapons.
"By his open repudiation of the Budapest memorandum, President Putin has undermined international confidence in the protection afforded by such agreements," the Canadian leader said.
"Ukraine relinquished the nuclear weapons it inherited from the former Soviet Union on the basis of an explicit Russian guarantee of its territorial integrity.
"By breaching that guarantee, President Putin has provided a rationale for those elsewhere, who needed little more encouragement than that already furnished by pride or grievance, to arm themselves to the teeth."
16:22
22.3.2014
Reports say U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss the Ukraine crisis in The Hague.
Via AFP:
Via AFP:
MOSCOW, March 22, 2014 (AFP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry will discuss the Ukraine crisis on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in The Hague next week, a Russian foreign ministry official said Saturday.
"A meeting between Lavrov and Kerry is planned on the sidelines of the summit in The Hague," to be held Monday and Tuesday, Interfax news agency quoted the official as saying.
The exact timing of the encounter was not immediately known.
"A meeting between Lavrov and Kerry is planned on the sidelines of the summit in The Hague," to be held Monday and Tuesday, Interfax news agency quoted the official as saying.
The exact timing of the encounter was not immediately known.
16:19
22.3.2014
A couple tweets from Roland Oliphant of "The Telegraph" from Belbek:
Well that seems to be all over. No one seriously injured as far as we know. Lots of self defence nasties still not letting us in
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) March 22, 2014
I do hope the Russian government takes appropriate sanctions against the "self defence" thug who manhandled the lifenews girl here.
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) March 22, 2014
16:11
22.3.2014
CCTV screenshot from Belbek base in Crimea. Russian troops storming UKR base. #Euromaidan pic.twitter.com/gDfmIWdO6d
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) March 22, 2014
16:10
22.3.2014
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Pro-Russian forces appear to have stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, news agencies report. An armored vehicle was seen ramming into the gate of the base in Belbek, near Sevastopol, and an ambulance was seen driving into the compound at high speed. A live camera feed from outside the gate showed men in civilian clothes entering the base, before the video feed went dark. There were also witness reports of explosions and gunfire. The events occurred after a Russian ultimatum to the personnel at Belbek to surrender the base. In western Crimea, some 200 unarmed demonstrators broke through to the air base in the town of Novofedorivka. Ukrainian military personnel barricaded themselves inside buildings and threw smoke bombs at the intruders from the roof. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, some 5,000 people attended a pro-Russian rally, chanting slogans in favor of a referendum on seceding from Ukraine.
Pro-Russian forces appear to have stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, news agencies report. An armored vehicle was seen ramming into the gate of the base in Belbek, near Sevastopol, and an ambulance was seen driving into the compound at high speed. A live camera feed from outside the gate showed men in civilian clothes entering the base, before the video feed went dark. There were also witness reports of explosions and gunfire. The events occurred after a Russian ultimatum to the personnel at Belbek to surrender the base. In western Crimea, some 200 unarmed demonstrators broke through to the air base in the town of Novofedorivka. Ukrainian military personnel barricaded themselves inside buildings and threw smoke bombs at the intruders from the roof. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, some 5,000 people attended a pro-Russian rally, chanting slogans in favor of a referendum on seceding from Ukraine.
16:08
22.3.2014
From RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service: In Donetsk, Ukraine's SBU security service has detained Mikhail Chumachenka, leader of the so-called "Donbas Peoples' Militia," on preparing to "overthrow the constitutional order."