Pro-Russian forces have taken control of Ukraine's navy headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, a day after Russia signed a treaty with local authorities to make Crimea part of Russia.
Witnesses say at least 200 unarmed members of so-called self-defense forces entered the base Wednesday and raised the Russian flag. Ukrainian service members did not resist the takeover, and were seen leaving the facility.
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Russian news agencies quoted sources in the Sevastopol prosecutor's office as saying the commander of Ukraine's navy, Serhiy Haiduk, had been "temporarily detained" after leaving the navy headquarters.
Later Wednesday, reports said a second naval base had been seized by pro-Russian forces.
Tuesday, a Ukrainian officer was shot dead when gunmen attacked a Ukrainian military base near Simferopol, capital of Crimea, according to news reports. A member of the peninsula's self-defense forces was reportedly also killed.
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, blasted Russia's belligerence at a Security Council meeting on Ukraine and emphasized U.S. rejection of the military intervention, calling it a "land grab."
"These actions, again, violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, Russia’s own binding agreements, international law, the expressed will of most members of this Council, and the letter and spirit of the United Nations Charter," she said. "... let me just emphasize again what Russia has done is wrong as a matter of law, wrong as a matter of history, wrong as a matter of policy, and dangerous. What happened in Crimea cannot be recognized as valid. We must stand together denying recognition and imposing consequences for this illegal act. In doing so, we must also be very clear that what happened in Crimea cannot be repeated in other parts of Ukraine."
Samantha Power, has equated Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula to theft, saying "a thief can steal property, but that does not confer the right of ownership on the thief."
Power's comments at an emergency Security Council meeting on Ukraine Wednesday drew a sharp and immediate response from Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who shot back: "It is simply unacceptable to listen to these insults addressed to our country."
The tense exchange came at the Council's eighth emergency Ukraine session in the past three weeks. The meeting again left Churkin isolated as the lone Council diplomat defending Russia's move to annex Crimea.
Churkin also warned the United States that its public criticism of Russia's role in Crimea could jeopardize future Russian cooperation on other issues facing the 15-member Security Council.
The Russian did not elaborate. But cooperation between Washington and Moscow is key to international efforts aimed at organizing Syrian peace talks. Both governments also are involved in consultations aimed at ending the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program.
Churkin also accused senior U.N. human rights official Ivan Simonovic of presenting "a one-sided assessment" of the human rights situation in and near Crimea.
Moscow has sought to justify its military presence in Ukraine as a response to threats against Russian-speaking Ukrainians both in and outside the peninsula.
But Simonovic, who just completed a nine-day official visit to Ukraine, told the Council that harassment and attacks on Russian-speaking Ukrainians are "neither widespread nor systemic."
Ukraine says it has drawn up plans to evacuate all of its outnumbered military personnel from the Crimean peninsula. The move, announced Wednesday, effectively surrenders military control of the territory as heavily armed pro-Russian militiamen seized a key Crimean base.
In announcing the withdrawal, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council chief, Andriy Parubiy, said Kyiv will seek United Nations support in turning the peninsula into a demilitarized zone. He also said Ukraine is planning to hold military maneuvers "with our allies." He did not elaborate, though The Associated Press reports the U.S. and U.K. will be involved.
Parubiy spoke hours after pro-Russian militiamen seized Ukrainian naval headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, and one day after Moscow signed a treaty with local authorities making Crimea part of Russia.
Witnesses say at least 200 unarmed self-defense forces entered the Sevastopol base Wednesday and raised the Russian flag. Ukrainian service personnel did not resist and were seen leaving the facility.