Газеты Англии и Америки на русском

События в Луганске - захват здания украинской службы безопасности

zorro2010 — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 07:30:08 GMT

Alec Luhn in Luhansk Thursday 10 April 2014 00.32 BST

Pro-Russian occupiers of Ukrainian security service building voice defiance

A masked pro-Russian activist behind the barricades at the security service building in Luhansk. Photograph: Igor Golovniov/AP

"You want to know our demands, talk to the people," said a masked commander of the pro-Russian protesters occupying the security service headquarters in Luhansk.

The commander declined to provide his name but said he had fought protesters during deadly clashes in Kiev as a member of the infamous Berkut riot police, lifting his shirt to show a long scar.

"I'll tell you this much: We will fight these faggots," he said, referring to the new government in Kiev.

As negotiations continued on Wednesday with government representatives, the apparently well-organised group of pro-Russian protesters who call themselves the Army of the Southeast struck a defiant stance after seizing the security service building on Sunday.

Members of the building's defence who identified themselves as former Berkut (special police) officers from other regions said they would not to fire first but that if attacked they would fight back until Russian forces arrived.

The Kremlin has said it is prepared to intervene as in Crimea to protect ethnic Russians in other parts of Ukraine, and western generals have reported a Russian troop buildup along the border.

The masked commander said the security service building's defence included him and 42 other former members of the elite Alpha division of the now-disbanded Berkut, who were known as former president Viktor Yanukovich's shock troops during the Euromaidan protests in Kiev. He said the former president, who fled to Russia in February, had betrayed them.

A few hundred demonstrators stood in the square in front of the building, protesting against the new regime in Kiev, which many said had been installed by the US government.

Tatiana Pogukai, a spokesperson of the Luhansk division of the interior ministry, told the Guardian that a group of security service and law enforcement officials and politicians continued to negotiate with the occupiers, who are demanding a referendum on "the region's economic independence from Kiev".

Interior minister Arsen Avakov told journalists in Kiev on Wednesday morning that "a solution to this crisis will be found within 48 hours", referring to seizures of government buildings over the weekend in the eastern regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk, where pro-Russian protesters are seeking referendums on greater independence from Kiev. Avakov said an "anti-terrorist operation in all three regions" could spring into action "at any moment." Ukrainian television showed images of armoured troop carriers said to be driving in the direction of Luhansk.

Eastern Ukraine's heavy industries export goods to Russia, and large numbers of Russian speakers live there. The interior ministry troops removed the protesters from the Kharkiv building and a security service building in Donetsk, but protesters in the Donetsk regional administration building have declared an independent republic and begun organising a referendum on its status.

A flier from the Army of the Southeast handed out by protesters in Luhansk called for a referendum "for our future together with Russia and the future of our Slavic Orthodox people, which is on the edge of destruction because of politicians who have been bought".

Officials in Kiev and Washington have said Russia organised the protests in eastern Ukraine, but the masked commander said all those inside the building were Ukrainian citizens, as several middle-aged onlookers brandished their Ukrainian passports.

He denied Ukrainian media reports that the protesters had obtained more than 1,000 firearms after seizing the building. But in a video by occupiers posted on Tuesday, the speaker is flanked by three men with machine guns.

Another masked man manning a street barricade, who said he had served in Kiev as a Berkut officer but was from the nearby region of Zaporozhye, said the building's defenders had "enough weapons for the whole Bandera regime". Many protesters argue that the Kiev government is dominated by nationalists from western Ukraine, where dozens of monuments commemorate the nationalist leader Stepan Bandera, who fought for Ukrainian independence but also collaborated with Nazi invaders during the second world war.

"Fifty kilometres from here Russian troops are waiting for a shot to be fired by the other side," said the former Berkut officer, who also refused to provide his name. "We will try to solve this peacefully until the end, but if they attack we will fight back."

After conflicting reports that occupiers were holding hostages or using protesters as human shields, the security service said 56 people had been released from the building Wednesday after two rounds of negotiations. But Pogukai denied that hostages had been taken. The former Berkut on the barricades said no one had been released from the building at all, adding: "Russia won't help us if we take hostages."

In an appeal to the occupiers, the head of the Luhansk branch of the interior minister asked them to turn in their weapons and leave the building, promising that politicians and security officials had agreed to consider legislation to amnesty those who do so.

Asked about the possibility of leaving the building to accept amnesty, the masked commander held his bicep and showed his fist in a gesture equivalent to flashing the middle finger.

Police were keeping order in the city but gave the protesters a wide berth. Traffic police had formed a loose cordon on roads leading to the occupied building and were turning most cars away. Police in flak jackets had set up a checkpoint about 15km down the highway towards the nearby city of Donetsk but appeared to be checking only large vehicles.

Signs outside the security service building read "USA and EU are occupiers!" and, in English, "Europe and USA, go home!" Protesters said they supported federalisation to give their region more independence from Kiev, while others said they wanted to join Russia, like Crimea.

"We're calling on Russia to come and save us," said Anna Kostenko, who said that local industry had been growing under Yanukovich but the new regime had brought only harm.

"It's better to die standing than live on our knees," said a woman who identified herself only as Nadezhda. "The regime that was installed by the Americans, we hate them. We love Russia."

But not everyone is for independence from Kiev. An SUV drove by the barricades streaming a Ukrainian flag.

Yelena Khodus, a local journalist, said Russia was playing on local's frustrations with the government in Kiev and the men who made the video statement weren't local. Any new regime won't "make everything good tomorrow", she said, "but people here don't understand that."

В маске про-русский активист за баррикадами у здания службы безопасности в Луганске. Фото: Игорь Golovniov /

"Вы хотите знать, наши требования, говорить с людьми", сказал в маске командир пророссийских демонстрантов, занимающих штаб-квартиру службы безопасности в Луганске. Командир отказался предоставить его имя, но сказал, что он воевал протестующих во время кровопролитные столкновения в Киеве в качестве члена печально известной Беркут ОМОНа, подняв рубашку, чтобы показать длинный шрам. "Я скажу вам это много: Мы будем бороться с этими хворост", сказал он, обращаясь к новой власти в Киеве. Как переговоры продолжались в среду с представителями правительства, по-видимому, хорошо организованная группа пророссийских демонстрантов, которые называют себя армия Юго-Восточной ударил дерзкий позицию после захвата здания службы безопасности в воскресенье. Члены обороны здания, которые идентифицировали себя как бывшие Беркут (специальная полиция) офицеров из других регионов заявили, что не стрелять первым, но, что в случае нападения они будут отбиваться, пока российские войска не прибыли. Кремль заявил, что готов вмешаться как в Крыму , чтобы защитить этнических русских в других частях Украины , и западные генералы сообщили о российских войск наращивание вдоль границы. Командир маске сказал оборона здания Службы безопасности включали его и 42 других бывших членов элитном дивизионе Альфы ныне расформированной Беркута, которые были известны как ударные бывшего президента Виктора Януковича во время протестов Euromaidan в Киеве. По его словам, экс-президент, который бежал в Россию в феврале, предал их. Несколько сотен демонстрантов стояли на площади перед зданием, протестуя против нового режима в Киеве, который многие говорили, был установлен правительством США. Татьяна Pogukai, представитель отдела Луганской министерства внутренних дел, сообщил Guardian, что группа службы безопасности и правоохранительных органов и политиков продолжали вести переговоры с оккупантами, которые требуют проведения референдума по "экономической независимости региона из Киева" . Министр внутренних дел Арсен Аваков сообщил журналистам в Киеве в среду утром, что "решение этого кризиса будет найден в течение 48 часов", ссылаясь на изъятий правительственных зданий в минувшие выходные в восточных районах Донецкой, Харьковской и Луганской, где пророссийской Протестующие пытаются референдумы по большей независимости от Киева. Аваков заявил "антитеррористическая операция во всех трех регионах" может весной в действие "в любой момент". Украинское телевидение показало изображения БТРах сказал быть за рулем в направлении Луганска. Тяжелой промышленности Восточной Украины экспортировать товары в Россию, и большое количество русскоговорящих там жить. Внутренние войска министерства удалены протестующих от здания Харьковского и здание службы безопасности в Донецке, но протестующие в региональном административном здании Донецкой заявили независимой республикой и начал организовывать референдум по его статусу. Летчик из армии на юго-востоке раздавали протестующих в Луганске призвал провести референдум "за наше будущее вместе с Россией и будущее наших славянских православных человек, что на на краю гибели из-за политиков, которые были куплены". Официальные лица в Киеве и Вашингтоне заявил, что Россия организовала акции протеста в Восточной Украине, но командир маске сказал, что все те, внутри здания были граждане Украины, как несколько средних лет зрители размахивали украинские паспорта. Он опроверг сообщения СМИ украинских что протестующие получили более 1000 единиц огнестрельного оружия после захвата здания. Но в видео по оккупантов Отправленный во вторник, спикер в окружении трех мужчин с автоматами. Другой человек в маске комплектования уличную баррикаду, кто сказал, что он служил в Киеве в качестве офицера Беркут но был из соседнего региона Запорожья, сказал защитники здания были "достаточно оружия для всего режима Бандеры". Многие протестующие утверждают, что киевская власть доминирует националистов из Западной Украины, где десятки памятников ознаменование националистический лидер Степана Бандеру, который боролся за независимость Украины, но и сотрудничал с немецко-фашистских захватчиков во время Второй мировой войны. "В пятидесяти километрах отсюда российских войск ждут выстрела, чтобы быть выпущенной другой стороны," сказал бывший Беркут офицер, который также отказался предоставить его имя. "Мы сделаем все, чтобы решить эту проблему мирным путем до конца, но если они нападают мы будем бороться обратно." После противоречивые сообщения, что оккупанты держали в руках заложников или используя протестующих в качестве живого щита, служба безопасности сказал 56 человек были освобождены от здания среду после двух раундов переговоров. Но Pogukai отрицал, что заложники были взяты. Бывший Беркут на баррикадах сказал, что никто не был освобожден от здания на всех, добавив: "Россия нам не поможет, если взять заложников." В обращении к оккупантов, глава Луганской филиала министра внутренних дел попросил их сдать оружие и покинуть здание, пообещав, что политики и чиновники безопасности принял решение рассмотреть законодательство амнистировать тех, кто так. Отвечая на вопрос о возможности покинуть здание, чтобы принять амнистию, командир маске затаил бицепс и показал кулак в жесте, эквивалентной мигать средний палец. Полиция поддержания порядка в городе, но дал протестующих широкое место. Дорожная полиция сформировала свободную кордон на дорогах, ведущих в оккупированной здания и поворачивались большинство автомобилей прочь. Полиция в бронежилетах создали контрольно-пропускной пункт в 15 км вниз по шоссе в направлении соседнего города Донецка, но, казалось, проверяя только крупные транспортные средства. Признаки вне здания службы безопасности читать "США и ЕС являются оккупантами!" и, по-английски, " Европа и США, иди домой! " Протестующие заявили, что они поддержали федерализации, чтобы дать их регионе больше независимости от Киева, а другие заявили, что хотят присоединиться к России, как Крым. "Мы призываем Россию придет и спасет нас", сказала Анна Костенко, который сказал, что местная промышленность росла при Януковиче, но новый режим принес только вред. "Лучше умереть стоя, чем жить на коленях", сказала женщина, назвала себя только как Надежда. "Режим, который был установлен американцами, мы их ненавижу. Мы любим Россию». Но не все за независимость от Киева. Внедорожник проехал мимо баррикад потокового с украинским флагом. Елена Ходус, местный журналист, заявил, что Россия играла на разочарования местных с правительством в Киеве и люди, которые сделали видео о не были местными. Любой новый режим не будет "делать все хорошее завтра", сказала она, "но люди здесь не понимают, что."

Россия сосредоточила " невероятную силу" на украинской границе

zorro2010 — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 17:53:01 GMT

Крым кризис: командир НАТО призывает союзников, чтобы мобилизоваться в Восточной Европе после того как Россия сосредоточила " невероятную силу" на украинской границе

Crimea crisis: Nato commander calls for allies to mobilise in eastern Europe after Russia prepares "incredible force" on Ukrainian border

US Air Force General Philip Breedlove said Russian army on border is now 'very, very sizeable and very, very ready'

Nato's top military commander has warned that Russia is building an "incredible force" on its border with Ukraine, and said the time has come for Western allies to move its own troops to the east.

There are growing fears that President Vladimir Putin may be preparing to follow up the annexation of Crimea with a move into Moldova's mainly Russian-speaking separatist Transdniestria.

US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, Nato's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said Russia had used "snap" military exercises apparently as a tactic to shift vast numbers of troops towards the border.

Around 10 days ago Moscow launched a new exercise, involving 8,500 artillery troops, near the Ukrainian border - as it had done in the days before Ukraine lost the Crimea region.

Breedlove said the Russian tactic should lead the 28-nation Western military alliance to rethink the positioning and readiness of its forces in eastern Europe so that they were ready to counter Moscow's moves.

"A snap exercise puts an incredible force at a border. The force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizeable and very, very ready," he said, speaking at an event held by the German Marshall Fund, a thinktank.

"You cannot defend against that if you are not there to defend against it. So I think we need to think about our allies, the positioning of our forces in the alliance and the readiness of those forces ... such that we can be there to defend against it if required, especially in the Baltics and other places."

Ukraine is not a Nato member, but Moscow's intervention in Crimea has caused particular alarm in several ex-Soviet Baltic republics - which are.

Breedlove said Nato had attempted to make Russia a partner, but added: "Now it is very clear that Russia is acting much more like an adversary than a partner."

He voiced concern that Russia could have Transdniestria in its sights after Crimea, saying that, in Russia's view, the separatist region of Moldova was the "next place where Russian-speaking people may need to be incorporated."

In Moscow, Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said Russia was complying with international troop limits near the border with Ukraine, and international inspectors had conducted missions in the last month to check on Russian troop movements.

"We have nothing to hide there," Antonov was quoted by the state RIA and Itar-Tass news agencies as saying.

And speaking this morning on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Moscow's ambassador to the EU said his country did not have any "expansionist views", and that "nobody should fear Russia".

Asked whether he could rule out a military incursion into Ukraine beyond the Crimea, Vladimir Chizhov said it was not Russia's "intention", but added that he could not speak for "the Commander in Chief".

Российские войска готовы двинуться в Молдову, командир НАТО предупреждает

zorro2010 — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 17:45:17 GMT

Российские войска готовы двинуться в Молдову,

командир НАТО предупреждает

Russian troops poised to 'run' into Moldova,

Nato commander warns

A pro-Russian enclave of Moldova could be Moscow's next target after Crimea, Nato warns

Fears that Russia could seize a second chunk of territory in eastern Europe grew on Sunday after Nato's top commander warned that Moscow's troops were poised to move into a pro-Moscow enclave of Moldova.

US Air Force General Philip Breedlove said that Russian troops massing on the eastern border of Ukraine were well-positioned to head to Transdniester, a Russian-speaking enclave that has declared independence from the rest of Moldova.

Transdniester's people have long sought closer ties with Moscow, and to this day, the streets of the capital, Tiraspol, are decked out with statues of Lenin and other symbols of the Soviet Union.

Gen Breedlove said it would give President Vladimir Putin the perfect pretext to send troops in there as a "protection" force for ethnic Russians, just as he has done with his military annexation of Crimea.

"There is absolutely sufficient (Russian) force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniester if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome," said Gen Breedlove, who is Nato's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

Gen Breedlove issued his warning at event in Brussels held by the Marshall Fund, a German think-tank. On Tuesday, the government of Moldova warned Russia against any moves to annex Transdniester, following comments from the speaker of Transdniester's parliament urging Moscow to incorporate the enclave.

Gen Breedlove said he was concerned that the Kremlin viewed Transdniester as the "next place where Russian-speaking people may need to be incorporated."

"The (Russian) force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizeable and very, very ready," he said.

He did not specify how the Russian forces would get there. Transdniestria is landlocked and to go there by land would require Russian troops to travel through much of western Ukraine. However, Russian forces based in the Eastern side of the Black Sea and Crimea could conceivably stage an airlift.

A statue of Lenin outside Tiraspol's Parliament building (Julian Simmonds)

Since it fought a brief separatist war to breakaway from Moldova in 1991, Transdniester has been home to "peacekeeping" garrison of around 1,000 Russian troops. Until now, the Kremlin is thought to have treated the enclave as being too small and unimportant to be worth incorporating into the Russian Federation. It currently recognises Transdniester as being part of Moldova. But the recent events in Crimea may have changed that calculus.

Transdniester issues its own passports, stamps and currency, despite the fact that hardly any other country in the world recognises it as a sovereign state. The European Union and Ukraine have long regarded it as a haven for smuggling and other illegal activities.

Moldova, whose five million people mostly speak the Latin dialects of neighbouring Romania, is Europe's poorest country, and has ambitions to eventually become part of the European Union.

It is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Union, the same one that Ukraine's ousted President, Viktor Yanukovych, abandoned last November amid massive Kremlin pressure.

Signing the free trade agreement would take Moldova firmly into the European fold, but Transdniester's unresolved status would make full membership of the EU or Nato more complicated. As such, some believe the Kremlin has a direct vested interest in fomenting further pro-Russian sentiment in Transdniester.

In an interview the Telegraph, Lurie Leanca, the prime minister of Moldova, said: “We have reasons to be worried but so far this situation is under control and I hope it will stay like this for the coming weeks and months.

“Of course we watch carefully what happens there in Transnistria, we look carefully at what the Transnistria leadership does, and what the Russian military do.

"The Transnistrian region, this is not a secret to anyone, is able to survive because of the direct support from Moscow. We also take into the account the official Russian position that Transnistria is a part of Moldova.”

Украина и Крым: что думает Путин ?

zorro2010 — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 17:38:17 GMT

Украина и Крым: что думает Путин ?

Ukraine and Crimea: what is Putin thinking?

Recent events are both a knee-jerk reaction by Putin and a culmination of his years of grievances with the international order

Russia’s actions in Crimea are a petulant riposte to the west: we think you break international law, so we will too.

Photograph: Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images

When Vladimir Putin summoned the entirety of Russia's political elite to the St George's Hall of the Kremlin to announce that Russia would "welcome back" the territory of Crimea last week, the atmosphere was almost as if they were celebrating a military victory.

"In people's hearts and minds, Crimea has always been an inseparable part of Russia," said Putin, making it sound like it had always been a matter of time before Moscow made its move to recover the territory. "This firm conviction is based on truth and justice."

Some have seen Putin's actions in the context of a post-imperial complex and a leader longing to reconstitute some form of the Soviet Union by gathering up lost territories. There may be a flicker of truth in this, but the reality is more complex, according to those familiar with the Kremlin's decision-making over Crimea in recent weeks.

The evidence about how decisions were made over the past month points to reactive, adhoc and impulsive moves rather than the implementation of a strategic gambit long in the planning.

People rally in support of Crimea joining Russia, with banners and portraits of Russian president, Vladimir Putin, reading 'We are together'. Photograph: Pavel Golovkin/AP

Part of the issue comes from what the Russian president sees as a dangerously chaotic situation in Ukraine and Russia's complete loss of influence on the decision-making process in Kiev. The psychological element of seeing masked revolutionaries wiping their boots on the carpets at the ousted president Viktor Yanukovych's palatial compound is also likely to have had an effect on a ruler who has done everything to ensure that protest stirrings at home are nipped in the bud.

"Putin hates revolution, he's a counter-revolutionary by nature," says Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin-linked spin doctor. "Yanukovich was forced to flee, and the Russian system of influence on Ukraine ended. Putin realised that no one would listen to Russia if he didn't strengthen his position. So he strengthened it."

According to Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-linked analyst who has been taking part in official meetings with local politicians in Crimea, the initial plan was not to annex Crimea, and the final call to do so was taken only a fortnight ago.

"There are two major factors that played a role in the decision," he says. "The first was the demands of the Crimean elite, who did not want to end up like Abkhazia in international limbo and really pushed strongly to be part of Russia, and the second was the position of the west, who did not want to listen to any compromise."

Markov says Putin laid down several conditions to western leaders which he saw as a compromise solution but they viewed as unwarranted meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. The conditions included ensuring that Ukraine's interim government involved a coalition of all political forces, including Yanukovych's Party of Regions, disbanding all armed revolutionary factions and making Russian an official state language.

"If this had happened, Crimea would still be part of Ukraine," says Markov.

As well as merely reacting to events in Ukraine, there was also a sense that the Crimea situation is a culmination of many years of grievances with what Putin sees as an unfair international system. "They say we are violating norms of international law … It's a good thing that they at least remember that there exists such a thing as international law – better late than never," said Putinlast week, to an ovation from the hall. "They have come to believe in their exclusivity and exceptionalism, that they can decide the destinies of the world, that only they can ever be right."

A man reads a newspaper with the headline 'Crimea chooses Russia' on a street in Simferopol. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

What the world heard from Putin last week was not new in its thrust, but never has he spoken at such length and with such open contempt for the current international order. "I talked with his speechwriters and they said that he himself dictated the main points of the speech; it's his own deeply held position," says Yevgeny Minchenko, a political analyst close to the Kremlin.

Viewed through the spectrum of this discontent, Russia's actions in Crimea are essentially a petulant riposte to the west: we think you break international law all the time, so we will too.

The armed seizure of the Crimean parliament, the cynical insistence that Russian troops were not operating in Crimea when they clearly were, and the breakneck speed and flagrant violations involved in organising the Crimean referendum at short notice have been hidden behind a thread of plausible deniability stretched infinitesimally thin – and a knowing smirk on Putin's face.

"To keep the gloves on while everyone else allows themselves everything is not pragmatic," says Minchenko. "Putin has become more realistic."

Feeding into this irritation is also a deep-seated sense of injustice and unfair victimisation from the west that has long been a feature of Russian political thinking. Sochi is a particular sore point. The 2014 Winter Olympics was Putin's pet project, costing $50bn (£30bn), yet the build-up was permeated with noise about gay rights and security concerns from the west, and few heads of state visited the games, to the irritation of the Kremlin.

The Russian Railways boss, Vladimir Yakunin, a close associate of Putin's and now placed on the US sanctions list, said the west wanted "to befoul everything" to do with Russia and thus criticised the Sochi games; while the influential defence analyst Sergei Karaganov complained about an "avalanche of lies" about Russia over Sochi.

"People say that Putin doesn't care what the west thinks; that's nonsense," says Anton Krasovsky, a journalist who was chief of staff for the oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov when he ran against Putin in the 2012 presidential elections. "He does care, and he doesn't understand the hatred towards him from the west, which he feels has no basis. In Sochi, he organised what he saw as an incredible Olympics and people still criticised him for it. It's partly a generational and civilisational thing. He wishes he could go back to the era when he could just drink wine and have fun with Berlusconi. He just doesn't understand why people criticise him so much."

A number of those close to the Kremlin point to this genuine feeling of bewilderment about criticism and what is seen as an unwillingness to take Russia's interests into account. Over Crimea, it seems, the Russian president simply snapped, and decided it was time to act unilaterally.

The 2014 Winter Olympics was Putin's pet project, costing $50bn, yet the build-up was permeated with noise about gay rights and security concerns from the west.

"The feeling was that whatever we do, the west won't support it, so things can't get any worse," says Minchenko. "Putin was seriously disappointed with the attitude toward the Russian regime, first of all from US, but also from the European bureaucracy. Putin thought that Russia had taken too many steps toward compromise, but there weren't even any hints of acknowledgment."

Despite the staunch support for the move in Russia's parliament, it is clear the decision to seize Crimea was taken by a very small circle of people. Russian newspapers reported that all their government sources had been taken completely by surprise by the move.

The president now takes counsel from an ever-shrinking coterie of trusted aides. Most of them have a KGB background like the president and see nefarious western plots everywhere.

"There is a tremendous anxiety about Putin's decision-making and the erratic, impulsive behaviour," says Michael McFaul, who was US ambassador to Russia until last month. "Those that worry about the economy in Russia do not appear to be part of the decision-making process."

McFaul, a professional academic who works on Russia, describes Putin's worldview as "paranoid". The Russian president genuinely believes that the US is attempting to destabilise Russia, he says: "Putin assigns us all kinds of agency in Russia and across the world that we simply don't have."

There is a tremendous anxiety about Putin's decision-making and his erratic, impulsive behaviour,' says Michael McFaul. Photograph: Misha Japaridze/AP

McFaul says he has been surprised by recent events: "We always thought of worst-case scenarios, but I did not expect it to go this far. I always thought of Putin as someone who doesn't like international norms, but operates within them and thinks that Russia is best off operating within them."

That the decision-making was adhoc does not mean it did not tap into aspirations that have long been bottled up among sections of the Russian elite. Putin's Ukraine point-man, the economist Sergei Glazyev, told the Guardian as long ago as September that if Ukraine were to sign the integration agreement with the EU, "political and social chaos" would ensue and Russia could be "forced to intervene" to protect Russians in the east and south. What happened after the successful revolution is so close to what Glazyev predicted might happen if Yanukovych had taken Ukraine westbound that it is tempting to think a contingency plan for a different scenario was taken off the shelf and activated.

The events of recent months have also solidified the hold of "Eurasianism" on the imaginations of Russia's top lawmakers. This ideology envisions Russia's re-emergence as a conservative world power in direct opposition to the geopolitical hegemony and liberal values of the west. The ideology was largely developed by Alexander Dugin, the son of a KGB officer who has become the wide-eyed prophet predicting a "Russian spring", as he called his recent plan for Russia's domination of Europe via Ukraine. Dugin serves as an adviser to State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin, a key member of the ruling United Russia party who has loudly supported Russian intervention in Ukraine, and has made widely viewed television appearances to discuss the Ukraine crisis alongside high-ranking members of the government. Glazyev is also an associate of Dugin's.

Upset with western criticism of him when he returned to the presidency for a third term in 2012, Putin realised that an independent Russia could never be part of the "western club" as he had previously wanted, says Dugin. "Putin sees the west as his main enemy, but to come to this conclusion he lived through a lot, he lived through a historical situation," Dugin said. "He came to the same conclusion in practice as we did in theory."

So far, the decision to seize Crimea has gone down well in Russia, evidenced by the seemingly endless ovations for Putin during his speech, and by his record-high approval ratings among the public. But some wonder just how sustainable this is. "In times of crisis, in times of us versus them, people always rally around their leaders and their flag," says McFaul. "That's what we saw after September 11 in the US. The fervour doesn't surprise me, and the propaganda works. But believe me: this stuff goes away pretty fast."

Additional reporting by Alec Luhn

Обама продлил санкции против России на богатых союзников Путина

zorro2010 — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 10:38:16 GMT

Обама продлил санкции против России на богатых союзников Путина

Obama extends sanctions against Russia to include wealthy Putin allies

We have seen a illegal referendum in Crimea, an illegitimate move by the Russians to annex Crimea and dangerous risks of escalation.

President Obama has extended financial sanctions against Russia to include wealthy supporters of Vladimir Putin and a bank close to the Kremlin, in a bid to deter Russian military incursions into eastern and southern Ukraine.

Amid growing pressure for a tougher US response to the crisis, the White House also issued a new executive order authorising a co-ordinated economic blockade with the European Union against key Russian industries if the situation escalates.

EU leaders agreed to add 12 unnamed Russians to a blacklist of 21 individuals and ordered the European commission to examine the impact of broader trade and economic warfare action against Russia and also said they would implement a trade agreement with Kiev.

The EU summit acquiesced in the Kremlin’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, while trying to look tough by talking up the prospects of a potential trade war with Moscow if Putin expands his land-grab ambitions beyond the Black Sea peninsula.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, demanded a European monitoring mission in Ukraine, but conceded it would be “quite unrealistic” for the Russians to allow such a mission into Crimea.

White House officials also revealed the Pentagon was providing “non-lethal” assistance to the Ukrainian military and claimed there were signs of human rights abuses against minorities in Crimea, including the apparent torture of dead Tatar man and “houses marked in a biblical fashion”.

“We have continued to be deeply concerned by events in Ukraine,” said Obama. “We have seen a illegal referendum in Crimea, an illegitimate move by the Russians to annex Crimea and dangerous risks of escalation.”

“Because of these choices the US is today moving to impose additional costs on Russia. We’re imposing sanctions against more senior officials of the Russian government and in addition we are sanctioning a number of other individuals with substantial resources and influence.”

The additional financial sanctions target 20 new individuals, including eight officials previously identified by the European Union. They extend an initial list announced on Monday to add what the White House calls “Putin’s cronies”.

The previous blacklist of 11 officials shied away from touching top figures or oligarchs.

Most significantly, the new blacklist targets several influential businessmen known to be close to Putin.

Gennady Timchenko, who controls the Gunvor Group, the fourth-largest crude oil trader in the world, has a net worth of $15.3bn and was said by Forbes to be “one of the most powerful people in Russia.”

Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, judo friends of Putin and co-owners of SMP Bank and SGM Group, which provide construction services to state-controlled gas giant Gazprom, were among the elites said to have profited from the Sochi Olympics.

Companies controlled by Arkady Rotenberg won at least $7.4bn worth of contracts related to the Games, Bloomberg reported. He is one of the most influential businessmen in the country, according to Forbes.

The new list also targets Bank Rossiya, which the US claims is the personal bank for senior officials of the Russian Federation.

Among the new Kremlin officials who will face asset freezes are Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff, and state Duma chairman Sergei Naryshkin, who has vocally supported Russian intervention in Ukraine. Vladimir Yakunin, the head of state-owned Russian Railways, was also on the list.

All those included will have any US assets frozen and a ban placed on any dealings with US companies, which the White House claims will affect their ability to do business globally.

Several Russian politicians openly mocked earlier White House sanctions against government officials, claiming they did not have any assets that could be hurt by the move and would not deter their policy in Crimea.

But officials in Washington insisted the new steps – together with the threat of co-ordinated action with the EU against Russian industry – were intended to send a signal to deter possible Russian military incursions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“We are concerned by recent Russian military movements. It would be a significant escalation for Russia to move into southern and eastern Ukraine,” a senior US administration official told reporters. “That is part of the context [of these sanctions]; to send a signal that these key sectors of the Russian economy are in play for sanctions.”

The official added: “Sanctions build over time. They are very powerful. People might think they are a mere wrist slap, but I can assure you they are not.”

Despite calls from Kiev for military support from the US, Obama has made clear that he is not willing to risk American troops in Ukraine and is so far not supplying arms. “We are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine,” the president said in an interview on Wednesday.

But White House officials confirmed on Thursday that the Pentagon was already providing “non lethal assistance” to Ukraine – a phrase that could indicate intelligence and satellite imagery, or equipment such as night-vision goggles. They also said the US had evidence that Moscow had closed its border to Ukrainian goods entering Russia, imposing “an effective trade embargo”.

In retaliation to the US economic sanctions, Moscow has also announced its own financial blacklist including White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, senators John McCain and Harry Reid and House speaker John Boehner.

The White House decision to blacklist some of Putin’s closest aides piled the pressure on Europe to get tougher with Russia, although the Europeans have immeasurably more at stake in an escalating sanctions war with Moscow.

The Europeans were expected to acquiesce to Russia’s seizure of the Crimea from Ukraine while talking up the prospects of a potential trade war with Moscow if Putin expands his territorial ambitions beyond the Black Sea peninsula.

A summit of EU leaders in Brussels wrestled with a response to what is broadly seen as the most significant act of destabilisation in Europe since the end of the cold war. They were expected to blacklist at least a further 10 Russian and Crimean officials, adding to the 21 who were barred from travelling to the EU and had their assets frozen on Monday.

The new names were believed to mirror those sanctioned by the US administration earlier this week. The Europeans also called off an EU-Russia summit scheduled for June in Sochi, but remained deeply divided about escalating the dispute with the Kremlin for fear of the damage that Moscow could do to the Europeans in a full-blown trade war.

Extraordinary measures were taken at the summit to preserve confidentiality, signaling the sensitivity of the debate among 28 national leaders. The president of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, chairing the summit, barred all aides and advisers to the government chiefs from Thursday evening’s dinner and insisted no mobile phones or other electronic devices be allowed. There was no known precedent for such measures in the history of EU summitry, diplomats said.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the EU would move to economic and financial sanctions against Russia if Putin extended the conflict beyond Crimea. But Berlin also recognized that the peninsula was a lost cause.

“It has to be said clearly [by Moscow] that Russia is not pursuing any territorial interests beyond Crimea,” said the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The pressure from Washington also strengthened the hand of David Cameron, the British prime minister, who led calls for more robust action against Russia. Confidential diplomatic cables seen by the Guardian confirmed that Britain was spearheading demands that the EU prepare financial and trade sanctions against Moscow, known as stage three of the sanctions regime.

“The UK in particular has expressed the expectation that the European Council [summit] take concrete measures on the next steps,” said a cable. The British were calling for “emergency planning” on stage three sanctions while also declaring that the pain in Europe from the expected Russian reprisals had to be spread “equally”.

“What Russia has done is unacceptable,” said Cameron. “The countries of the European Union need to speak with a clear and united voice. What that means is more asset freezes and travel bans, more actions specifically in respect of what has happened in the Crimea, but also it means making sure that we do everything we can to help build a strong and democratic Ukraine.”

Thursday night’s confidential dinner debate was expected to focus for the first time on broadening financial and trade sanctions on Russia, their impact, and the likely effect on European countries from the certain Russian retaliation.

The leaders were expected to warn Putin of the possible move towards a trade war, hoping that this would act as a deterrent, said senior EU diplomats. Other officials said the summit might move beyond the blacklisting of officials by agreeing an arms embargo on Russia, a move that might be opposed by France which has billions at stake in defence contracts with Moscow.

Западные журналисты убедились, что Россия не вторгалась в Крым

zorro2010 — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:18:01 GMT

Западные журналисты убедились, что Россия не вторгалась в Крым

Телеканал Украины о ситуации в Крыму

zorro2010 — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:15:56 GMT

Телеканал Украины о ситуации в Крыму

Новое лицо Крыма проявилось после штурма военной базы

zorro2010 — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:02:19 GMT

Новое лицо Крыма проявилось после штурма военной базы

Ukraine crisis: New face of Crimea revealed after naval base is stormed

Kim Sengupta reports on masked troops, insulting acts, humiliated sailors – and a missing admiral

The marines and sailors who came out of the base were drained and dejected, eager to get away as fast as possible from the scene of their humiliation. Their Ukrainian base now had a Russian flag flying over it, the entrance guarded by masked troops claiming to be from the Kremlin’s intelligence directorate.

Watching them, tears welling, Irina Vorodinova whispered: “I am proud of them. They have done all they could. They shouldn’t have to leave like this.” Her son, a captain, was still inside. Her husband, a retired captain, was at another gate, also anxiously waiting for news. “Our family, our parents, have been in the military. Now our men are being treated like this. It’s not right,” she said.

The servicemen and women had mostly put on civilian clothes to leave the Ukrainian naval headquarters at Sevastopol. The few willing to speak, away from the cameras, were deeply apprehensive of the future; some claimed the Russians had broken an agreement to give those in the headquarters more time, and the men who had stormed in had been aggressive and insulting. One, Sasha, said: “ They came in when we were having breakfast and started throwing things on the floor.

These were not Russians, but Samoobrona [members of the separatist Self-Defence Force]. They were trying to provoke us: they accused us of being traitors because we would not change sides; I have no wish to join any side they are on.”

The fall of the Sevastopol base was a bitter blow to Ukraine: it had been the symbol of a proud fleet and also what was left of the tattered command and control of its forces in Crimea.

It saw Ukraine bow to the seemingly inevitable with Andriy Parubiy, its national security chief, saying they were “developing a plan that would enable us not only to withdraw servicemen but also members of their families in Crimea, so that they could be quickly and efficiently moved to mainland Ukraine”.

Pro-Russian troops surround a military base in Perevalnoe (Getty)

Sevastopol was the main point of communications with the Russians and the man who had been in charge of that liaison, Serhiy Hayduk, the commander of Ukraine’s Black Sea Fleet, is now missing. He was originally held by members of the Self-Defence Force, who accused him of “keeping people under his command prisoners” and threatened that he would face trial. He was said to have been taken away by officers from the Russian security service, the FSB.

Admiral Hayduk’s whereabouts remains unknown. The prosecutor’s office at Sevastopol denied reports that he was under arrest facing criminal charges; they also denied any knowledge that he had been taken out of the city.

Tonight, Ukraine’s acting President, Olexander Turchynov, gave the Crimean authorities three hours to release the navy chief and “ all other hostages”. It remained unclear what exactly he intended to do if they, and their Russian sponsors, failed to comply with the ultimatum. Events over the past weeks have highlighted Kiev’s impotence in this breakaway state now annexed by Russia.

Earlier the acting Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who had declared the confrontation had moved from a political to a military phase, said he was sending his deputy, Vitaly Yarema, and the acting Defence Minister, Ihor Tenyukh, to Crimea to “resolve the situation”. The state’s Prime Minister, Sergei Aksyonov, responded: “Nobody will let them in; they will be sent back.” And that was the end of that

Pro-Russian forces take down Ukrainian flags at the naval base in Sevastopol (AP)
Meanwhile, Admiral Hayduk’s opposite number in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Alexandr Vitko, visited the headquarters to resounding cheers. It is thought that other bases that had been holding out against the Russians may now be taken over. The storming of the Sevastopol base had been preceded by an attack on a mapping and navigation centre in the state capital, Simferopol, in which a Ukrainian officer had been killed and several others hurt.

By the end of the day, the naval installation at Yevpatoria was reported to have been taken by the Self-Defence Force. And the garrison at Perevalnoye was reportedly considering handing over the base. Some of those inside were said to be joining Crimea’s Moscow-controlled military; others planned to go to Ukraine.

Kiev and Moscow had supposedly agreed a truce over the bases until tomorrow. That appears to have been ignored, although the Russians and their paramilitary allies may overrun them once the deadline passes.

After the fatal shooting at the Sevastopol base on Tuesday, Mr Yatsenuyk accused Russia of committing “war crimes”. He said Ukrainian forces in Crimea had been authorised to open fire.

A woman remonstrates with Russian troops at the Simferopol naval base (Getty)
However, Ukrainian military commanders have repeatedly complained that they had received no guidance from Kiev while facing the Russian blockade, and there was little inclination to follow this sudden order to engage an adversary vastly superior in numbers and weaponry. At Sevastopol, Sergiy Bogdanov, a navy spokesman, said: “We are not using arms and we will not be doing so.”

At Belbek military airport, which has been surrounded by Self-Defence Forces for weeks, Colonel Yuli Manchur said: “It is too late now for the government to start issuing such orders. All this time, when I have been asking the ministry of defence for direction, I have been told to use my initiative. Well, that’s what I shall be doing.”

Colonel Manchur and his men had achieved widespread fame after he marched them, unarmed, up the hill to confront the Russians and their special forces this month.

He said: “We have not had any intimidation for a few days now, but we know what happened at Sevastopol. The problem is that the Russians have lost control of the Samoobrona; when you give people like these guns, there is going to be trouble. They are a problem for us now, they will be a problem for the Russians in the future.”o n some of my own projects moving forward, including playing more events around the world, which I am really enjoying. I will always be in Andy’s corner and wish him nothing but great success as he too goes into a new phase of his career.”

Украинский флотоводец и другие заложники освобождены Крымскими властями

zorro2010 — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:50:35 GMT

Ukraine crisis: live

A Ukrainian air force officer closes the gate at the Belbek airbase, outside Sevastopol in Crimea

Ukrainian naval commander and other hostages released by Crimea authorities amid attempts to defuse tensions as EU leaders meet to consider response to Russian annexation

• Crimea 'self defence' militia on Wednesday stormed Ukrainian military facilities
• Moscow has approved annexation of strategic peninsula
• EU leaders meeting in Brussels to discuss response to Russian seizure of Crimea
• Splits have emerged in Europe over whether annexation should trigger sanctions
• Barack Obama has ruled out military intervention in Ukraine
• Ukraine plans war games with US and UK though no confirmation from London

10.26 Will Ukraine's eastern regions eventually fall to Russia too? Russian TV channel REN apparently thinks so, expanding its report on Russian weather to include the cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv.

10.16 Kiev will never recognise Russia's annexation of Crimea and will fight for the "liberation" of the strategic Black Sea peninsula, Ukraine's parliament has said in a resolution adopted this morning.

"Ukraine will never cease to fight for the liberation of Crimea as long and painful as this can be," said the resolution, an initiative of acting president Olexandr Turchynov.

10.15 Ukraine's ambassador to the UN in Geneva has said that Russia may be preparing a further military incursion to Ukrainian territory.

Yurii Klymenko told UN diplomats at a briefing on the human rights situation in Ukraine: "There are indications that Russia is on its way to unleash a full blown military intervention in Ukraine's east and south."

The Black Sea peninsula of Crimea is not the only Russian-leaning region in Ukraine's east. There have already been clashes in the eastern city of Donetsk and there are fears that it and other areas where anti-Kiev sentiment is high could follow Crimea in splitting from the rest of the country.

09.59 Russian journalist Natalia Antonova comments on Twitter that Yatsenyuk's decision to row back from visa restrictions is a smart one:

09.37 Barack Obama said last night that the United States would not take military action against Russia over their actions in Ukraine. But he also said Washington would ratchet up the pressure on Russia, taking additional steps following the sanctions already announced. Watch his remarks below:

09.33 German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the European Union will impose more sanctions on Russia following its decision to annex Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and will suspend all G-8 meetings until the political situation changes.

Mrs Merkel told German MPs ahead of today's EU summit in Brussels that the bloc would expand a freeze of bank accounts and travel bans of people that have been linked to the crisis.

Earlier this week, the EU and the United States slapped sanctions on certain individuals that were involved in what they say was the unlawful referendum in Crimea over joining Russia.

But there are still likely to be disagreements at the summit as to when to introduce tougher sanctions. The EU previously agreed to impose punitive measures such as an arms embargo and energy and financial sanctions if Russia continued to destablise the situation. David Cameron believes that the annexation of Crimea is the trigger for those sanctions but Mrs Merkel wants to hold off for now.

"The EU summit today and tomorrow will make clear that we are ready at any time to introduce phase-3 measures if there is a worsening of the situation," she said.

Mrs Merkel also said that the G-8 will not meet until the situation changes, the group, which includes Russia, being effectively dead so long as the crisis continued. Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to host leaders from the top industrial countries in Sochi in June.

09.27 Ukraine's interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk now says he "won't hurry" to impose a visa regime on Russia. Our correspondent Roland Oliphant in Sevastopol says this sounds like a U-turn. "It could be a bit like burning down the house," he notes of the visa threat.

09.15 Good morning and welcome to today's live coverage of developments in Ukraine.

First, a quick recap of yesterday's events. Russian and pro-Russian forces took over Ukrainian navy headquarters and another military base in Crimea, encountering little resistance but taking the naval commander hostage.

Tensions rose as Crimean authorities turned back a ministerial delegation sent from Kiev, Russia, the US and Europe engaged in verbal sparring and an American warship began military exercises in the Black Sea.

The government in Ukraine demanded the release of the naval commander and a number of pro-Ukraine activists previously detained in Crimea, warning of 'adequate' consequences if authorities did not comply. it said it would be holding military exercises with the US and UK - a move clearly aimed to scare Moscow off any further seizures of territory in Ukraine's restive east. Withdrawal from the Russian-led CIS union - an umbrella group of former Soviet states - and visa restrictions on Russians wanting to travel to Ukraine were also announced.

This morning, as EU leaders prepared to meet in Brussels to discuss the bloc's response to Russian actions in Crimea, the hostages were released by authorities in the Black Sea peninsula. Admiral Sergei Haiduk and the civilians reportedly left the Sevastopol naval base accompanied by Russian special forces, apparently on the orders of the Russian defence minister.

Киев объявляет о планах по выводу украинских войск из Крыма

zorro2010 — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:42:31 GMT

Киев объявляет о планах по выводу украинских войск из Крыма

Kiev announces plans to withdraw Ukrainian troops from Crimea

Ukrainian servicemen come under pressure from Russian troops and local forces to abandon Crimean bases

Ukraine is planning to withdraw its forces and their families from Crimea "quickly and efficiently" after more Ukrainian bases were taken over by local militias and Russian troops on Wednesday.

Andriy Parubiy, head of the national security and defence council, told reporters in Kiev that it planned to relocate 25,000 service personnel and families. "We are developing a plan that would enable us not only to withdraw servicemen but also members of their families in Crimea, so that they could be quickly and efficiently moved to mainland Ukraine."

His comments came before Russian forces took over a naval base in Bakhchisaray in Crimea on Wednesday night, the latest in a series of takeovers of Ukrainian bases by Russian troops and local self-defence forces using a mixture of attrition and threats, as well as the dawning realisation that Kiev has lost control over the peninsula and has no way of fighting to regain it.

On Wednesday, the day after Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would absorb Crimea and a Ukrainian soldier was shot dead by a sniper at a base in Simferopol, a pro-Russian militia took control of the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Sevastopol.

"We freed the prisoners inside this base. This is Russian territory. Moscow already accepted Crimea," said Vladimir Melnik, head of a local self-defence unit, shortly after the Russian flag was raised at the base.

According to Melnik, several branches of the local militia co-ordinated in storming of the site during the morning. "We are peaceful people, but we are military people and if we receive orders to storm we will follow them," he said, adding that the civil defence units were under the command of the city administration.

Andrey Kochebarov, a deputy leader of local Cossacks, said: "There was no fight, no resistance; the guys inside clearly understood what situation they are in. This is the naval base headquarters so if they gave up this one, they will give them all up."

In the hours that followed, the Ukrainian troops, who had been inside the besieged base for three weeks, slowly trickled out with heads bowed. Morale is low and the soldiers say they are uncertain what the future holds.

"We have no word from Kiev about what to do next," said Sergei, who has served as an officer in the Ukrainian army for 21 years and remained inside the building until the bitter end. "Of course, there was no resistance [when the building was stormed]. What are we meant to do, outnumbered and without weapons?" Sergei denied the local militia's claims that the men inside were liberated: "This is a lie. We remained there of our own free will."

Sergei, from Sevastopol, said he and the 50 colleagues who remained inside had been able to leave the building, but would not have been able to return if they did so. "I stayed because I swore an oath to the Ukrainian army." He said the Ukrainian officers were not physically threatened, but they were kept without enough food and water, and the electricity was often shut off.

Outside, his tearful wife greeted him with a hug. "It's been a very difficult time. I was very anxious about his safety," she said. "I'm delighted to have him back."

Tough decisions lie ahead for all the troops in the Crimea region who have remained loyal to Ukraine. Russian and Crimean officials have issued an ultimatum to the Ukrainian troops either to join the Russian army or take the option of a safe passage out of the peninsula.

Parubiy said the Ukrainian government would appeal to the UN to declare Crimea a de-militarised zone, which he hoped would lead to Russia and Ukraine both withdrawing its forces.

The Ukrainian navy commander, Serhiy Haiduk, was captured during the storming of the headquarters and was believed to have been taken into Russian detention. On Wednesday evening, acting Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov gave the Russians and Crimean authorities three hours to free Haiduk or face "adequate responses, including of a technical and technological nature", without clarifying further.

There was no immediate time frame given for Parubiy's announcement that the troops would be relocated.

Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko had earlier said Ukraine should not recognise Russian rule over Crimea, but did call for safe passage to be granted so Ukrainian troops on the peninsula could withdraw to "temporary bases" elsewhere in Ukraine, to prevent further bloodshed.

The Ukrainian government wanted to dispatch two ministers to Crimea on Wednesday to "resolve the situation", but were informed by Crimean authorities that they would not be allowed to enter the territory.

The process of annexation continued apace, with Ukrainian signs being removed from government buildings. Russia's constitutional court reviewed the treaty to join Crimea to Russia and found it legal, and the parliament is expected to ratify the decision by the end of the week.

Putin announced that a rail and road bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to Russia across the two-mile Kerch Strait would be built.

Russia had already begun distributing passports in the region, said Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of Russia's federal migration service. "Some passports were issued today, and the work will only get more intensive with each new day," he told RIA Novosti. He did not clarify what would happen with those Crimea residents who did not take up Russian citizenship.

Concerns have been voiced about the fate of Crimean Tatars, who make up 13% of the population and, on the whole, are loyal to Kiev. They mostly boycotted the hastily organised referendum that returned a 97% vote for union with Russia. Crimean officials have said some of them may have to return land to which they do not own proper legal rights. Many Tatars live on unregistered land; they were deported en masse during the Stalin era and often found their property in new hands when they returned a generation later.

The most pressing issue remains what happens with the remaining Ukrainian servicemen in bases. Crimean authorities claimed that the officer who was shot dead on Tuesday was shot by a 17-year-old radical Ukrainian nationalist, which has been dismissed as implausible by authorities in Kiev.

A spokesperson for the defence ministry was unable to clarify how many soldiers were left on bases, saying he did not know himself. But there was little fighting talk at bases around the peninsula and more of a sense of resignation that the territory has been lost.

Evgeniy Cherednichenko, an officer at the logistical command centre in Sevastopol, on Wednesday made the decision to abandon his position inside the besieged base.

"It's a very difficult and complicated situation. We don't have proper information. In the end, I just decided to pick up my personal stuff and leave," he said. "I have not deserted the Ukrainian army, I don't know what to do next."

The base is surrounded by Russian troops; through the wire fence it is possible to see the Ukrainian troops moving around. A sniper sits calmly on top of a garage watching the men below.

Speaking by telephone from inside the base, lieutenant colonel Aleksandr Lusyan said: "Kiev should have given the order to use weapons at the beginning, because then we could fight back, but they were afraid to give this command because they were afraid to spill blood. Now we are outnumbered and we cannot fight back."