The incident took place a day after Russia signed a treaty to annex the region
Unarmed members of Pro-Russian self-defense forces, left, force themselves through a chain of Ukrainian military men at the Ukrainian Navy headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Wednesday. Photo-AP
Sevastopol: Pro-Moscow militants who seized the Ukrainian navy's headquarters in Sevastopol together with Russian forces on Wednesday said they had "taken away" the head of the Ukrainian navy Sergiy Gayduk.
"He was blocked and he had nowhere to go. He was forced out and he has been taken away," Igor Yeskin, a representative of the Russian forces at the scene, told reporters.
Crimea's self-defense forces stormed the Ukrainian navy base in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol a day after Russia signed a treaty with local authorities to annex the region.
An Associated Press photographer witnessed several hundred self-defense forces force their way onto the headquarters' premises and raise the Russian flag on the square by the headquarters.
Ukrainian servicemen were standing guard by the main building. Crimean self-defense forces are not armed and seemed to be waiting for the Ukrainian army's decision whether to let them in.
Russia on Tuesday signed a treaty to incorporate Crimea into its territory following a referendum in which residents of Ukraine's region overwhelmingly backed the move. Ukraine and the West consider the vote illegitimate.
The United States and the European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on Russia, targeting Russian and Crimean officials with visa bans and asset freezes.
( Source : AP )
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