Russia In Patriotic Fervor Over Crimea [View all]
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia was swept up in patriotic fervor Friday in anticipation of bringing Crimea back into its territory, with tens of thousands of people thronging Red Square chanting "Crimea is Russia!" as a parliamentary leader declared the peninsula would be welcomed as an "equal subject" of Russia.
Ignoring sanctions threats and warnings from the U.S., leaders of both houses of parliament said they would support a vote by Crimeans to split with Ukraine and join Russia - signaling for the first time that the Kremlin was prepared to annex the strategic region.
Tensions in Crimea were heightened late Friday when pro-Russian forces tried to seize a Ukrainian military base in the port city of Sevastopol, the Ukrainian branch of the Interfax news agency reported. No shots were fired, but stun grenades were thrown, according to the report, citing Ukrainian officials.
About 100 Ukrainian troops stationed at the base barricaded themselves inside one of their barracks, and their commander began negotiations, the report said. Crimea's pro-Moscow leader denied any incident at the base.
more...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UKRAINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-03-07-18-56-36
= new reply since forum marked as read