Sevastopol: Defence ministry officials said Russian forces also seized a military base in Crimea’s western port town of Novoozerne after using a tractor to ram open its main gate.
An AFP reporter saw about 50 Ukrainian servicemen file out of the base under the watchful eye of Russian soldiers while pro-Moscow militias lowered the Ukrainian flag.
The Ukrainian government’s loss of control of the heavily Russified region was underscored further when Defence Minister Igor Tenyukh was forced to cancel an urgent visit aimed launching Crimean mediation talks when the local authorities threatened to turn back his plane.
Meanwhile, Russia accused Western states of violating a pledge to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and political independence under a 1994 security assurance agreement, saying they had “indulged a coup d’etat” that ousted President Viktor Yanukovich last month.
The foreign ministry on Wednesday said actions by the United States and the European Union ran counter to assurances in the agreement during 1994 granted by the United States, Britain and Russia.
