Simferopol: More than 50 armed men men seized local government and legislature buildings in the Crimea region in the regional capital of Simferopol in a dawn raid and blocked government workers from entering, Crimean prime minister Anatoliy Mohilyov told AFP.
The intruders raised a Russian flag over the parliament building in the regional capital, Simferopol, but didn't immediately voice any demands.
Due to which Ukraine's acting interior minister ha put the local troops and police on high alert.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, said on his Facebook page on, Thursday that areas around the occupied buildings were being sealed off by police.
He said: "Measures have been taken to counter extremist actions and not allow the situation to escalate into an armed confrontation in the center of the city."
The incident took place hours after Ukraine's parliament convenes to approve a new pro-Western government on Thursday after the United States offered economic aid to the crisis-hit country and warned Russia against military intervention.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday had ordered snap combat readiness drills near the Ukrainian border, days after the ouster of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.
The new cabinet was expected to win easy and quick confirmation on Thursday by parliament.
The deposed Yanukovych -- wanted for ‘mass murder’ -- is widely believed to have gone into hiding in Crimea with his two sons and a small team of heavily armed guards.
