Unidentified gunmen block the road toward the military airport at the
Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014,
as local residents are seen, in foreground. Russian troops took control
of the two main airports in the strategic peninsula of Crimea, Ukraine's
interior minister charged Friday, as the country asked the U.N.
Security Council to intervene in the escalating conflict. Russian state
media said Russian forces in Crimea denied involvement. No violence was
reported at the civilian airport in Crimea's capital of Simferopol or at
the military airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, also part of
Crimea. At the Simferopol airport, a man claiming to speak for the
camouflage-clad forces patrolling the airport described them as Crimean
militiamen. Ivan Sekretarev / AP PhotoCongratulations, the new leadership seems more than able to protect their sovereign borders.
By Ivan Sekretarev
Associated Press
Posted on Friday, 02.28.14
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- A top Ukrainian security official (click here) says two airports in Crimea are under Ukrainian control despite attempts by gunmen to "seize" them.
Ukraine's Interior Minister earlier Friday said Russian navy troops were blocking access to the airports in Simferopol and Sevastopol, describing it as a "military invasion and occupation."
But Ukraine's Security Council Chief Andriy Parubiy insisted later Friday that the airports were still under Ukrainian control, according to the Interfax news agency.
Parubiy said the gunmen had set up checkpoints outside the airports. "But de-facto the airports are controlled by the law enforcement bodies of Ukraine."
Ukraine's State Border Guard Service said about 30 Russian paratroopers from the 810th brigade of Russia's Black Sea Fleet had taken up position outside the Ukrainian Coast Guard base in the Sevastopol area. It said the paratroopers said they were there to prevent any weapons at the base from being seized by extremists....
I suppose Russia has far more experience than the Ukraine in regard to weapons containment during a shift in government. I sincerely believe Russia is overwrought with worry. Given the past history of weapon containment in the Ukraine, the country can handle it.
....The Russian foreign and defense ministries had no comment. Russia's state RIA Novosti and Interfax cited an unnamed official from the Russian Black Sea Fleet denying involvement, saying Russian servicemen stationed in Crimea have not moved into the airports and denying that the Russian military was in control there.
The Kremlin, in a statement published late Thursday, said President Vladimir Putin had instructed the government to "maintain contacts with the counterparts in Kiev in what concerns trade and economic ties between Russia and Ukraine."
Putin also asked the government to "hold consultations with foreign partners including the (International Monetary Fund) and the G8 nations to provide financial aid to Ukraine."...
I hope the Ukraine government is providing reassurance to all citizens, especially in the Crimea they are secure and there will be no more deaths in the country.
I also believe Russia's support through the IMF is an excellent idea. The strength of the good relations between any post Soviet country and their neighbor, where some even still have families, is to be accountable fiscally through a third disinterested party. The IMF is an excellent mediator to improve 'the tone' between these nations and Russia.
Russia is also protected from any adverse propaganda that casts shadows of it while having an accounting of all the transactions between these countries. Right now, Russia looks as though it indulged the former President Yanukovych in his extravagant lifestyle while the people of the Ukraine, including Ukrainian business persons, struggled.
Russia can still send humanitarian aid and/or their own business persons to conduct economic improvements in the Ukraine as long as it is well received and conducted in a transparent accountability through the Ukraine Foreign Ministry.
I sincerely believe some of this mess is simply reaction to such a rapid shift in the government. It scares people, no matter how much the majority has longed for the change, it is unsettling.
Associated Press
Posted on Friday, 02.28.14
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- A top Ukrainian security official (click here) says two airports in Crimea are under Ukrainian control despite attempts by gunmen to "seize" them.
Ukraine's Interior Minister earlier Friday said Russian navy troops were blocking access to the airports in Simferopol and Sevastopol, describing it as a "military invasion and occupation."
But Ukraine's Security Council Chief Andriy Parubiy insisted later Friday that the airports were still under Ukrainian control, according to the Interfax news agency.
Parubiy said the gunmen had set up checkpoints outside the airports. "But de-facto the airports are controlled by the law enforcement bodies of Ukraine."
Ukraine's State Border Guard Service said about 30 Russian paratroopers from the 810th brigade of Russia's Black Sea Fleet had taken up position outside the Ukrainian Coast Guard base in the Sevastopol area. It said the paratroopers said they were there to prevent any weapons at the base from being seized by extremists....
I suppose Russia has far more experience than the Ukraine in regard to weapons containment during a shift in government. I sincerely believe Russia is overwrought with worry. Given the past history of weapon containment in the Ukraine, the country can handle it.
....The Russian foreign and defense ministries had no comment. Russia's state RIA Novosti and Interfax cited an unnamed official from the Russian Black Sea Fleet denying involvement, saying Russian servicemen stationed in Crimea have not moved into the airports and denying that the Russian military was in control there.
The Kremlin, in a statement published late Thursday, said President Vladimir Putin had instructed the government to "maintain contacts with the counterparts in Kiev in what concerns trade and economic ties between Russia and Ukraine."
Putin also asked the government to "hold consultations with foreign partners including the (International Monetary Fund) and the G8 nations to provide financial aid to Ukraine."...
I hope the Ukraine government is providing reassurance to all citizens, especially in the Crimea they are secure and there will be no more deaths in the country.
I also believe Russia's support through the IMF is an excellent idea. The strength of the good relations between any post Soviet country and their neighbor, where some even still have families, is to be accountable fiscally through a third disinterested party. The IMF is an excellent mediator to improve 'the tone' between these nations and Russia.
Russia is also protected from any adverse propaganda that casts shadows of it while having an accounting of all the transactions between these countries. Right now, Russia looks as though it indulged the former President Yanukovych in his extravagant lifestyle while the people of the Ukraine, including Ukrainian business persons, struggled.
Russia can still send humanitarian aid and/or their own business persons to conduct economic improvements in the Ukraine as long as it is well received and conducted in a transparent accountability through the Ukraine Foreign Ministry.
I sincerely believe some of this mess is simply reaction to such a rapid shift in the government. It scares people, no matter how much the majority has longed for the change, it is unsettling.
