Armed men seize government buildings in Crimea, raise Russian flag <http://www.thecanadianpress.com/> Description: The Canadian PressBy Dalton Bennett, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press 28 minutes ago
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine - Several dozen armed men have stormed and seized the
buildings of the legislature and the local government in Ukraine's Crimea
region and raised a Russian flag over a barricade.
The men occupying the parliament building in the regional capital,
Simferopol, early Thursday did not come out to voice any demands. They wore
black and orange ribbons, a Russian symbol of the victory in the Second
World War. The men also put up a sign saying "Crimea is Russia."
They threw a flash grenade in response to a journalist's questions.
Phone calls to the Crimean legislature rang unanswered, and its website was
down. Refat Chubarov, a local leader of the Tatar community, wrote on his
Facebook page early Thursday that the two buildings were taken overnight by
uniformed men.
Russia has questioned the legitimacy of the new Ukrainian authorities after
pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fled last week, and it has accused
them of failing to control radicals who threaten the Russia-speaking
population in Ukraine's east and south, which includes the Crimean
Peninsula.
Ukraine's new government was expected to be formally approved by parliament
Thursday. It will face the hugely complicated task of restoring stability in
a country that is not only deeply divided politically but on the verge of
financial collapse.
Across Ukraine, the divided allegiances between Russia and the West were on
full display Wednesday as fistfights broke out between pro- and anti-Russia
protesters in the strategic Crimea peninsula. In the regional capital of
Simferopol, some 20,000 Muslim Tatars rallying in support of Ukraine's
interim leaders clashed with a smaller pro-Russian rally.
Russian President Vladimir Putin put the military on alert for massive
exercises involving most of the military units in western Russia, and
announced measures to tighten security at the headquarters of Russia's Black
Sea Fleet on the peninsula.
The manoeuvres will involve some 150,000 troops, 880 tanks, 90 aircraft and
80 navy ships, and are intended to "check the troops' readiness for action
in crisis situations that threaten the nation's military security," Defence
Minister Sergei Shoigu said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.
The move prompted a sharp rebuke from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry,
who warned Russia against any military intervention in Ukraine.
Russia denied the military manoeuvres had any connection to the situation in
Ukraine, but the massive show of force appeared intended to show both the
new Ukrainian authorities and the West that the Kremlin was ready to use all
means to protect its interests.
While Russia has pledged not to intervene in Ukraine's domestic affairs, it
has issued a flurry of statements voicing concern about the situation of
Russian speakers in Ukraine, including in the Crimea.
The strategic region, where the majority of the population are Russian
speakers, has strong ties to Moscow. It only 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.
Igor Korotchenko, a former colonel of the Russian military's General Staff,
wrote a commentary in a Russian online newspaper, slon.ru, saying "if
illegal armed formations attempt to overthrow the local government in Crimea
by force, a civil war will start and Russia couldn't ignore it."
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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