Russia has completed its takeover of Ukraine military bases in Crimea.
Following on from that totally legitimate referendum last week that saw Moscow annex Crimea, Russian forces stormed one of Ukraine's last military holdouts in Crimea yesterday morning.
Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Vladislav Seleznev took to Facebook to report that troops had descended from helicopters and used armored personnel carriers to ram their way through the gates of a base in Feodosia while pro-Russian militia tossed stun grenades and fired shots from machine guns into the air.
The unarmed Ukrainian troops surrendered immediately, as Russian forces completed their eradication of the Ukrainian military from the Black Sea peninsula. Somewhere between 60 and 80 Ukrainian soldiers were seen being loaded into three Russian military trucks with their hands bound before being driven away. Some of the soldiers had minor injuries. Two others with more serious injuries were taken away by helicopter.
"After the storming, marine battalion commander Col. Dmitry Delyatitsky and deputy commander Rostislav Lomtev were flown away in a Russian helicopter in an unknown direction," Seleznev posted.
At the time of Seleznev's Facebook post, all Ukraine's bases had been overtaken by Russia, with just three Ukrainian ships remaining under Ukrainian control. However, those ships were under siege, as reported by a local television station.
Ольшанський штурмують http://t.co/lX6SPEtDwP є вже перші фото pic.twitter.com/Ub5Bn0qEJz
— Українська правда (@ukrpravda_news) March 24, 2014Ukraine's acting President Oleksander Turchynov has told parliament in Kiev that orders have been given to evacuate roughly 25,000 military personnel from Crimea due to "Russian threats to the lives of military staff and their families".
In retaliation for Russia's actions in Crimea, President Barack Obama has banned Vladimir Putin from the big kids' table. Obama called an emergency meeting of the G7 — usually the G8, when Russia participates — to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
"Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people," Obama told reporters in Amsterdam. "We're united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wasn't bothered by Russia's exclusion. "We see no great tragedy if it [the G8] does not meet," he told reporters. "The G8 is an informal club, there are no membership cards. Nobody can throw anybody out. All important issues are now discussed in the G20."
