Kremlin Clears Way for Force in Ukraine; Separatist Split Feared
Pro-Russian Crimea Leader Moves to Cement Control Over Region
Credit Reuters
SIMFEROPOL,
Ukraine — As Russian armed forces effectively seized control of
Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula on Saturday, the Russian Parliament granted
President Vladimir V. Putin the authority he sought to use military
force in response to the deepening instability in Ukraine.
The
authorization cited a threat to the lives of Russian citizens and
soldiers stationed in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine, and provided a
blunt answer to President Obama, who on Friday pointedly warned Russia
to respect Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.
Even
before Mr. Putin’s statement in Moscow, scores of heavily armed
soldiers had tightened their grip on the Crimean capital, Simferopol,
surrounding government buildings, shuttering the airport, and blocking
streets, where they deployed early Friday.
Large
pro-Russia crowds rallied in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Donestk
and Kharkiv, where there were reports of violence. In Kiev, the
Ukrainian capital, fears grew within the new provisional government that
separatist upheaval would fracture the country just days after civil
unrest ended in the ouster of President Viktor F. Yanuovych, a Kremlin
ally who fled to Russia.
In
Crimea, in the south, scores of heavily armed men fanned out across the
center of the regional capital, Simferopol. They wore green camouflage
uniforms with no identifying insignia, but they spoke Russian and were
clearly part of a Russian military mobilization. In Balaklava, a long
column of military vehicles blocking the road to a border post bore
Russian plates.
The
Russian mobilization was cited by American military and intelligence
analysts as the basis for Mr. Obama’s warning that “there will be costs”
if Russia violated Ukrainian sovereignty.
On
Saturday morning, there was no immediate response from the White House;
officials had acknowledged on Friday that Washington’s options were
limited.
There
was also limited response from Europe. Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign
minister, issued a statement saying that Russia’s actions in Crimea were
“contrary to international law and the principles of European
security.”
Mr.
Yanukovych’s refusal, under Russian pressure, to sign new political and
free trade agreements with the European Union last fall set off the
civil unrest that last month led to the deaths of more than 80 people,
and ultimately unraveled his presidency.
While
Western leaders grappled for a response on Saturday, a Ukrainian
military official in Crimea said Ukrainian soldiers had been told to
“open fire” if they came under attack by Russia troops or others.
In
addition to the risk of open war, it was a day of frayed nerves and
set-piece political appeals that recalled ethnic conflicts of past
decades in the former Soviet bloc, from the Balkans to the Caucasus.
On
Saturday morning, the pro-Russia prime minister of Crimea, Sergei
Aksyonov, declared that he had sole control over the military and the
police in the disputed peninsula and appealed to Mr. Putin for Russian
help in safeguarding the region. He also said a public referendum on
independence would be held on March 30.
The
Kremlin has denied any attempt to seize Crimea, where it maintains
important military installations, including the headquarters of its
Black Sea Fleet. But the Kremlin quickly issued a statement saying that
Mr. Aksyonov’s plea “would not be ignored” and within hours the
Federation Council, the upper chamber of Parliament, had authorized
military action.
The
authorization, while citing Crimea, covered the use of Russian forces
in the entire “territory of Ukraine” and its time frame extended
indefinitely “until the normalization of the sociopolitical environment
in the country.” Parliament also asked Mr. Putin to withdraw Russia’s
ambassador to the United States.
Officials
in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, reacted angrily and reiterated their
demands that Russia pull back its forces, and confine them to the
military installations in Crimea that Russia has long leased from
Ukraine.
“The
presence of Russian troops in Crimea now is unacceptable,” said acting
Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk. Decrying the Russian deployment as a
“provocation,” he added, “We call on the government of the Russian
Federation to immediately withdraw its troops, return to the place of
deployment and stop provoking civil and military confrontation in
Ukraine.”
For
the new government, the tensions in Crimea created an even more dire
and immediate emergency than the looming financial disaster that they
had intended to focus on in their first days in office.
A
$15 billion bailout that Mr. Yanukovych secured from Russia has been
suspended as a result of the political upheaval and Ukraine is in
desperate need of an assistance package. Mr. Yatsenyuk had said that the
government’s first responsibility was to begin negotiations with the
International Monetary Fund and start to put in place the economic
reforms and painful austerity measures that the fund has requested in
exchange for help.
In Crimea, however, officials said they did not recognize the new government, and declared that they had taken control.
Mr.
Aksyonov, the regional prime minister, said he was ordering the
regional armed forces, the Interior Ministry troops, the Security
Service, border guards and other ministries under his direct control.
He added, “I ask anyone who disagrees to leave the service.”
As
soldiers mobilized across the peninsula, the region’s two main airports
were closed, with civilian flights canceled, and they were guarded by
heavily armed man in military uniforms.
Rostov-on-Don
50 Miles
Don
River
UKRAINE
Sea of
Azov
RUSSIA
CRIMEA
Simferopol
Airport
Simferopol
Belbek Airport
Sevastopol
Black Sea
Similar
forces surrounded the regional Parliament building and the rest of the
government complex in downtown Simferopol, as well as numerous other
strategic locations, including communication hubs and a main bus
station.
Adding
to the strange tableau, a crowd of about 400 people gathered near the
Parliament building in Simferopol to denounce the United States.
Some
waved orange and black flags, while others held placards that said
“Free Ukraine from US Occupation” and “The USA works with Fascism.”
One
elderly woman held up a photo of President Obama with a red line
through it and the caption “Yankee Go Home.” She then helped lead part
of the crowd in a chant of “Yankees Go Home.”
Near
the entrance Balaklava, the site of a Ukrainian customs and border post
near Sevastopol, the column of military vehicles with Russian plates
included 10 troop trucks, with 30 soldiers in each, two military
ambulances and five armored vehicles. The column was not moving.
Soldiers,
wearing masks and carrying automatic rifles, stood on the road keeping
people away from the convoy, while some local residents gathered in a
nearby square waving Russian flags and shouting, “Russia! Russia!”
Hardly
all of the sentiment in Crimea was pro-Russian. At a checkpoint on the
main road from Simferopol to Sevastopol, someone had hung a big banner
with red lettering. “Russia has always been the graveyard of evil
ideas,” it said. “You cannot win over a graveyard, you can only stay in
it forever.”
As
with the troops in downtown Simferopol, the soldiers did not have
markings on their uniforms. They would not say where they were from.
There
were also other unconfirmed reports of additional Russian military
forces arriving in Crimea, including Russian ships landing in Fedosiya,
in eastern Crimea.
On
Friday, American officials said that they had confirmed reports of
Russian troop deployments in Crimea including special forces and
specially trained marine and airborne units. Ilyushin transport planes
were said to have ferried in troops and there were reports of Russian
helicopter flights.
Crimea,
while part of Ukraine, has enjoyed a large degree of autonomy under an
agreement with the federal government in Kiev since shortly after
Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union.
The
strategically important peninsula, which has been the subject of
military disputes for centuries, has strong historic, linguistic and
cultural ties to Russia. The population of roughly two million is
predominantly Russian, followed by a large number of Ukrainians, and
Crimean Tatars, people of Turkic-Muslim origin.
Meanwhile, outpourings of pro-Russia sentiment were also underway in eastern Ukraine.
In
Kharkiv, pro-Russian demonstrators rallied and then seized control of a
government building, pulled down the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag and
raised the blue, white and red Russian one. Scores of people were
injured as protesters scuffled with supporters of the new government in
Kiev.
In
Donetsk, a crowd of several thousand people held a rally in the
city-center, local news agencies reported, with many chanting
pro-Russian slogans and demanding a public referendum on secession from
Ukraine.
There
were also signs on Saturday of concern among Ukrainian business leaders
over an effort by several European countries, including Austria and
Switzerland, to freeze Mr. Yanukovych’s assets as well as those of his
family members and other prominent associates.
Systems
Capital Management Group, the company controlled by Ukraine’s
wealthiest man, Rinat Akhmetov, issued a statement saying that its
operations were not affected by the freezing of assets. The company said
that it “operates in full compliance with the law and beyond politics”
and that the freezing of assets “have not affected our operations in any
way.”
Mr.
Akhmetov is long-known as a close ally of Mr. Yanukovych and his
company’s statement suggested that he wanted to distance himself from
the ex-president. On Friday, Mr. Yanukovych held a news conference at a
shopping mall in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, where he insisted that he was
still the legitimate president of Ukraine and planned to return.
The
new government in Kiev has said that Mr. Yanukovych and other top
officials are wanted on charges of mass murder in connection with the
deaths of more than 80 people in clashes between antigovernment
protesters and the authorities late last month.
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