Russia condemns 'lawlessness' in eastern Ukraine
updated 2:04 PM EDT, Mon March 10, 2014
People shout slogans during a
pro-Russia rally in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Sunday, March 9. Pro-Russian
forces have taken control of Ukraine's autonomous Crimean region,
prompting criticism from Western nations and the Ukrainian interim
government. The standoff has revived concerns of a return to Cold War
relations.
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Crisis in Ukraine
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Ukrainian military base commander in Crimea denies switching allegiance
- Russia says far-right groups "conniving" with new authorities in Kiev
- Germany's Merkel tells Putin planned Crimea referendum illegal
- Ukrainian prime minister expected to arrive in the United States on Wednesday
In a statement, the
Russian Foreign Ministry condemned "lawlessness" in eastern Ukraine and
accused the West of being silent over violence and detentions taking
place against Russian citizens, such as one incident last week when it
said masked gunmen fired on and injured peaceful protesters.
The statement came a day
after German Chancellor Angela Merkel bluntly told Russian President
Vladimir Putin by phone the Moscow-backed referendum on whether Crimea
should join Russia is illegal and would violate Ukraine's constitution
if it goes ahead on March 16.
Putin has defended
breakaway moves by pro-Russian leaders in Crimea, where Russian forces
have been tightening their grip on a region that has been the epicenter
of a battle for influence among Moscow, Kiev and the West since
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster last month.
Pro-Russian forces last
week pushed into the autonomous region in a bloodless siege, prompting
criticism from Western nations and Ukraine's interim government.
Will Putin stop at Crimea?
Ukraine: 30,000 Russian troops in Crimea
Ripple effect of Ukraine crisis
Moscow has denounced the
events that led to Yanukovych's ouster as an illegitimate coup and has
refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, putting the two
countries on a collision course over control of Crimea, which has
longstanding ties to Russia and has thousands of Russian troops
stationed there.
Putin has said Russia has the right to protect Russians living in the former Soviet republic.
As tensions mount,
Ukraine's armed forces carried out training exercises to test their
readiness, the country's Defense Ministry said. Citing televised
comments made by Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh on Sunday, it said the
army however was not calling for full mobilization, as diplomacy was
still the preferred method to resolve the crisis.
Propaganda war
Earlier, Ukraine's
Defense Ministry said a group of about 20 pro-Russian activists from the
so-called Crimea self-defense squads had broken into the military
hospital in the region's main administrative city, Simferopol, and
thrown out its chief.
In a later statement, it
said the hospital chief was back at work after negotiations but added
the premises were being blockaded by the activists.
However a CNN team that
traveled to the hospital found it very quiet, with no one around. A
guard on duty said he had not heard or seen anything unusual and that
there was no senior official to speak with as Monday was a public
holiday.
In the course of the
rapidly changing events of the past week, a propaganda war over Ukraine
has quickly developed as each side seeks to strengthen its stance.
Scenes of
balaclava-wearing men without insignia patrolling streets or other
premises have now become a familiar sight in the region.
On Monday, conflicting
accounts cast doubt as to which side was in charge of a Ukrainian
military base in Bakhchisaray, Crimea, with a Ukrainian commander
denying accusations that he had defected.
Ukraine's military said
the commander, Vladimir Sadovnik, initially appeared to have been
abducted from the base by pro-Russian self-defense fighters on Sunday. A
CNN team visited the base Monday morning, and the deputy commander said
Sadovnik was being held by pro-Russian forces. The base still appeared
to be in Ukrainian military hands.
But later Monday,
Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said Sadovnik
-- apparently having switched allegiance -- returned to the base with
pro-Russian fighters and persuaded some of the Ukrainian troops there to
join him.
Sadovnik and the men who
joined him loaded trucks with fuel, radios and other goods to take away
from the base, according to Seleznyov.
When a CNN team visited
the base Monday afternoon, armed masked men appeared in control of the
base. The Ukrainian flag that had been flying there was gone.
CNN then reached
Sadovnik by phone, and he denied Seleznyov's account. He said he was
kidnapped Sunday but eventually was allowed to return to the base. He
said he still was on the base and still was loyal to Ukraine.
He said pro-Russian
forces did ask Ukrainian troops there to change sides Monday, but that
he did no such thing. CNN couldn't immediately verify his location.
Reports of
confrontations weren't limited to Crimea. In the eastern mainland
Ukrainian city of Lugansk, just a few kilometers west of the Russian
border, 50 to 60 people burst into an IRTA TV station building on
Monday, editor-in-chief Katerina Rakova said.
The intruders initially
threatened to burn the building if they weren't allowed to broadcast.
But they eventually left, warning that they would return if they are
dissatisfied with the station's news broadcasts, Rakova said.
On Monday afternoon, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "increasingly alarmed" by developments in Ukraine.
"Recent events in Crimea
in particular have only served to deepen the crisis. As tensions and
mistrust are growing, I urge all sides to refrain from hasty actions and
provocative rhetoric," he said.
Singing Soviet songs
On Sunday in Simferopol,
demonstrators waving Crimean and Russian flags clapped along to
Soviet-era songs as dancers from Russia's Black Sea fleet entertained
the crowd.
Because of language and history, one man at the rally told CNN, Russia and Crimea are already "brothers."
But not all Crimeans are
convinced. Across town, beneath a statue of Ukraine's most celebrated
poet, another crowd was much smaller and the mood much more somber.
Asked what he thought about the possibility of Crimea becoming part of Russia, one demonstrator shook his head.
"It will be very
complicated because of economics, and a lot of different nations live
here, not only Russians. ... Not all of the people want to be part of
Russia," he said. "It's kind of a show. Putin's show."
Elsewhere, in the
Crimean port of Sevastopol, another Ukrainian rally came under attack by
pro-Russian gangs who whipped and beat demonstrators.
Ukrainian PM to U.S.
Washington has warned
Moscow that any moves to annex Crimea would close the door to diplomacy.
On Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama rounded up world leaders to
demand Russia "de-escalate the situation."
Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will fly to the United States this week to discuss the crisis in Crimea.
On Tuesday, Yanukovych
will speak from the Russian town of Rostov, Russia's state-run Itar-Tass
news agency reported, citing sources close to Yanukovych.
Putin earlier this month
secured permission from his parliament to use military force to protect
Russian citizens in Ukraine. The move came within days after
Yanukovych's flight from the country. Yanukovych was ousted after three
months of protests against his decision to spurn a free trade deal with
the European Union and turn toward closer ties with Moscow.
The referendum on
whether the Crimean Peninsula should join Russia has become the focus of
the Ukraine crisis. Yatsenyuk has called it "an illegitimate decision."
"If there is an
annexation of Crimea, if there is a referendum that moves Crimea from
Ukraine to Russia, we won't recognize it, nor will most of the world,"
U.S. deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said on CNN's "State
of the Union" on Sunday.
"So I think you'd see,
if there are further steps in the direction of annexing Crimea, a very
strong, coordinated international response."
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