Killing of Ukrainian Serviceman Begins ‘Military Stage’ of Conflict

Russian President Vladimir
Putin and the parliament of Crimea signed a treaty today
declaring the region a territory of the Russian Federation.
Despite the annexation nominally ending Crimea’s identity crisis,
the situation on the ground hit a new low: a Ukrainian serviceman
under fire from “armed
masked men” and snipers was killed by a bullet to the neck.

The New York Times
reported earlier that “within hours of that declaration, a
group of soldiers opened fire while storming a modest Ukrainian
military installation in Kubanskoye, near Simferopol… the base
appeared to be under control of the soldiers, who wore no
insignia.” The Associated Press
hints at who might be responsible, though, since “a truck
bearing a Russian flag was used in the operation.”

When the gunfire ended, “one serviceman at the base had died of
his wounds. A second man, a captain, was injured,” according to
Reuters.

Christopher Miller of the Kyiv Post clarified
that the killed man was not even soldier, but a “a cartographer who
worked at photogrammetric information center.”

Ukraine’s interim prime minister
stated that the killing, for which he blames Russian soldiers,
marks a “shifting from a political to a military stage” in the
Crimean crisis, and that the attack constitutes a “war crime.”

Russia
announced yesterday that the Ukrainian military has until
Friday to vacate Crimea.

Although Putin
insists he has no interest in seizing other regions of Ukraine,
Russian troops are building up along the border and conducting
military exercises. Adding to the alarm, The Interpreter
magazine
reports that “Belarus, a long-time Russian ally, was supposed
to receive a shipment of 15 Russian Su-27SM3 aircraft.
Now, that number has risen to 24,” which “could be seen as a
direct response to this crisis” in Ukraine.

As Reason‘s Matthew Feeney highlighted, Vice President
Joe Biden today suggested that the U.S. may soon be conducting
military exercises of its own in the Baltic Sea.  

Read more Reason coverage of Ukraine and Russia
here.