Pro-Russian Forces Flex Muscles in Crimea
Pro-Russian activists flexed their muscles in in Crimea on Friday, swarming government buildings after Kalashnikov-toting men in fatigues descended on two key airports, as tensions mounted over the strategic Ukrainian peninsula.
Hundreds of pro-Moscow protesters in Crimea's capital Simferopol massed outside the regional parliament -- seized Thursday by separatist commandos -- as 50 others formed a barricade outside the Ukrainian presidency's local office, blocking its newly designated director from going inside.
And in the port city of Sebastopol, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, 40 pro-Russian Cossacks ripped down the Ukrainian flag flying over city hall, cheered on by hundreds of supporters.
The displays of pro-Russian fervor came after Ukraine's new pro-Western government accused Russia of launching an "armed invasion" of Simferopol's airport and another near Sebastopol.
Ukrainian authorities later said they had regained control of the airports, and a spokesman for Russia's Black Sea Fleet denied any involvement.
But Agence France Presse reporters said dozens of men in battle fatigues and armed with Kalashnikovs continued to encircle the Simferopol airport.
The armed men's heavy military equipment showed the risk of tensions escalating into conflict on the peninsula, where ethnic Russians are a majority and pro-Moscow sentiment runs high.
Armed with machine guns, the men looked ready for battle in full combat uniform, wearing flak helmets and bullet-proof vests as they checked all incoming and outgoing traffic.
They refused to speak to journalists, and it was not immediately clear what army or paramilitary group they belonged to.
Unarmed pro-Russian activists nearby said the armed men had arrived in the middle of the night following rumors that members of the new government were planning to fly in.
The activists said they were "volunteers" there to maintain order.
"We're here to prevent fascists or radicals from western Ukraine from coming here by plane," said Vladimir, 46, a former military officer dressed in an army jacket.
The comment was a clear reference to the protesters whose three-month campaign against pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych brought his downfall at the weekend, a movement condemned by its critics in eastern Ukraine as rife with neo-Nazis and radical nationalists.
Standing beside him, Vadim, a young engineer wearing sneakers, said he was "not an extremist".
"We're here to maintain public order. We're not blocking anything. But if the nationalist criminals arrive, we're going to fight them. We'll find arms if we need them," he said.
A similar scene played out at Belbek military air base near Sevastopol, where machine-gun-toting men in green fatigues with no national identification blocked the main road to the airfield with a heavy military truck.
At the bus station in Simferopol, another group of five young men paced up and down, saying they too were determined to stop extremists from descending on Crimea, a peninsula given to Ukraine as a symbolic gift by a Soviet leader in 1954.
The bus station was calm, Ukraine's yellow-and-blue flag still flying above the building -- "for now", said a taxi driver.
At the regional parliament, wood-and-metal barricades blocked access to the building, guarded by a line of police after separatists stormed it Thursday and hoisted the Russian flag.
That red-and-blue flag could be seen dotted throughout the crowd of hundreds of demonstrators Friday as Russian patriotic songs blasted from loudspeakers.
A policeman said lawmakers were working inside but that security forces had still not gone back in the building since it was seized.
At the local presidential offices, six police officers looked on with their hands in their pockets despite the barricade by protesters.
"We want to be free and not under the power of the nationalists in the west," said Maria, an elementary school teacher outside parliament.
"The trouble all started in Kiev, the coup and the murders. Who let them do those things? That's why we're keeping our Crimea," said Anatoli, a factory worker, adding: "We love Russia."
Source: Agence France Presse
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