Two airports in Crimea are under Kremlin control.
That was the allegation by Ukraine’s new interior minister Friday as fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych vowed from Russia to continue “fighting for my country” in the hands of “fascist hooligans.”
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Pavel Golovkin/AP
Ukraine’s fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych said from Russia that the current Ukrainian government was in the hands of ‘fascist hooligans’ and illegitimate.
Armed masked men wearing camouflage patrolled the airport in the strategic peninsula’s capital of Simferopol and the military airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, refusing to identify themselves and raising fears of a Kremlin-backed rebellion.
“I can only describe this as a military invasion and occupation,” Ukraine’s interior minister Arsen Avakov wrote on Facebook.
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MAXIM SHIPENKOV/EPA
Russia denied having deployed the armed men patrolling the airports.
As fears heightened of armed insurrection , Yanukovych made his first appearance since being ousted from the presidency, saying the new government has no genuine authority and that he was “not overthrown” but was rather forced to leave due to threats against him and his family.
“I intend to continue to struggle for the future of Ukraine, against terror and fear” he said, adding he would return once his safety was assured.
Andrew Lubimov/AP
Russian troops block the road towards the military airport at the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea.
The ominous comments came as Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service said about 30 Russian marines had taken positions outside its Coast Guard base in Sevastopol in the southern tip of Crimea.
The marines from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet stationed on the peninsula were quoted saying they were there to prevent any weapons at the base from being seized by extremists.
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VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images
‘I can only describe this as a military invasion and occupation,’ Ukraine’s interior minister said of the armed men at the airports in Crimea.
Russian media and Russian military forces stationed in Crimea denied having anything to do with the armed men patrolling the airports. One man claiming to speak for the camouflage-clad forces at the Simferopol airport claimed they were Crimean militiamen.
But signs of Russian involvement were everywhere.
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MAXIM SHIPENKOV/EPA
Unidentified armed men in military uniform guard a building near the airport in Simferopol, Crimea.
Associated Press journalists approaching the Sevastopol airport found the road leading up to it blocked by two military trucks and a handful of gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying assault rifles.
A car with Russian military plates was stopped at the road block. A man wearing a military uniform with a Russian flag on his sleeve got out of the car and was allowed to enter on foot after a brief discussion with the gunmen.
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Alexei Nikolsky/AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military exercises along the Ukrainian border — a move reminiscent of Cold War brinksmanship.
Despite the tense atmosphere commercial flights continued to land and take off. The dozens of gunmen in camouflage bearing no markings didn’t stop or search any travellers and refused to talk to journalists. No violence was reported.
One man who identified himself only as Vladimir said they were part of the Crimean People’s Brigade, which he described as a self-defense unit ensuring that no “radicals and fascists” arrive from other parts of Ukraine.
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BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images
Barricades still stand in central Kiev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin only said in a statement late Thursday that he’d instructed officials to maintain contact with Kiev regarding “trade and economic ties.”
He added Russia should “hold consultations with foreign partners including the (International Monetary Fund) and the G8 nations to provide financial aid to Ukraine.”
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Efrem Lukatsky/AP
A memorial where protesters were killed in a clash with riot police in Kiev’s Independence Square.
The airport occupations came a day after masked gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles seized the parliament and government offices in Simferopol and hoisted the Russian flag. Ukrainian police cordoned off the area but didn’t confront the gunmen.
That same day Putin ordered fighter jets to patrol the Ukrainian border and ordered Russian troops to conduct combat drills.
Yanukovych fled the country last weekend following three months of protests that left over 80 dead. The protesters said Yanukovych was a corrupt puppet of the Kremlin who had lied when he said he would foster ties with the West.
Ukraine’s population is divided in loyalties between Russia and the West, with much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the European Union while eastern and southern regions look to Russia for support.
Crimea was seized by Russian forces in the 18th century under Catherine the Great, and was once the crown jewel in Russian and then Soviet empires.
It became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred jurisdiction from Russia, a move that was a mere formality until the 1991 Soviet collapse meant Crimea landed in an independent Ukraine.
In a bid to shore up Ukraine’s fledgling administration, the International Monetary Fund has said it is “ready to respond” to Ukraine’s bid for financial assistance. The European Union is also considering emergency loans for a country that is the chief conduit of Russian natural gas to western Europe.
Ukraine’s finance ministry has said it needs $ 35 billion over the next two years to avoid default.
Also on Friday, Swiss prosecutors announced they had launched a criminal investigation against Yanukovych and his son Aleksander over “aggravated money laundering.”
With News Wire Services
