Ukraine: Alleged ‘Armed Invasion,’ Ousted President Speaks from Russia

In Ukraine’s Crimean region, tensions
continue to rise as hundreds of heavily armed men began patrolling
two airports and are blocking road access with military vehicles.
Who they are, though, remains unclear.

The Minister of Internal Affairs issued a statement describing
the action at Simferopol, a civilian airport, and Sevastopol, a
military airbase, as an “armed invasion and occupation in violation
of all international treaties and norms. It is a direct provocation
of armed bloodshed in the territory of a sovereign state.”

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov
said that that “judged by our special services” that although
they bear no insignia, the gunmen surrounding these locations are
“professional soldiers.”

Daniel Sanford of the BBC speculates
that “they could be a pro-Russian militia or they could be Russian
troops,” because “they don’t want to say who they are but are being
helped by pro-Russian activists, who are keeping cameras at a
distance.

Although the Russian government has previously threatened
intervention, has been running military exercises near the border
this week, and is reportedly both
flying military helicopters in Ukrainian airspace and blocking
Balaklava Bay with an armed ship, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet
denies any involvement in the airport standoffs.

The region has a large ethnic Russian population and some want
to
break entirely from Ukraine.

Meanwhile, ousted fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych, whose
whereabouts were unknown after he fled the capital one week ago,
has reemerged in Russia. He spoke at a press conference in
Rostov-on-Don rejecting foreign military intervention in Ukraine’s
domestic affairs, but said that
“Russia should and must act.” He
blamed the nation’s instability on western powers and the
opposition, describing the latter as “pro-fascist activists” and
“bandits.” Yanukovych also said he won’t participate in the
presidential election in May 2014, calling
the decision to move the vote from February 2015 as “unlawful,”
though he also assured that he remains Ukraine’s legitimate leader.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko today confirmed
that both he and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will
run.

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