There has been a killing of a Ukrainian military serviceman in the Crimea. Here are the details: Ukrainian serviceman killed in Crimea Last updated: 3 minutes ago Defence ministry says attack against military base in the capital Simferopol was carried out by armed masked men. A Ukrainian serviceman has been killed in an attack at a military facility in the Crimean capital Simferopol, the defence ministry has said. Al Jazeeras Paul Brennan, reporting from Kiev, said news of the soldiers death had been received with shock and that Tuesdays attack had escalated the situation, which he said was hugely tense. Our correspondent said Ukrainian authorities described the dead soldier as a warrant officer, but a Crimean news agency, which cited a source in Ukraines Interior Ministry, called the victim a self-defence fighter. It said self-defence fighters were shot by a sniper from an uncompleted building opposite a Ukrainian military base, which is flying a Russian flag. The defence ministry described those behind the attack in the peninsula as armed masked men. Al Jazeeras Nick Schifrin, reporting from Simferepol, said there was evidence of bullet marks on the uncompleted building opposite the army base, suggesting some shots had been fired. We saw what appeared to be Russian snipers leaving positions from a separate building that overlooks the base, he said. He said Pro-Russian crowds did not want journalists to cover the incident and tried to grab their cameras. Referendum The attack comes two days after Crimeans voted in a referendum to join Russia, drawing condemnation from Western nations and triggering sanctions against top Russian officials from the European Union. Ukraines Western-backed prime minister said after the incident tha his countrys conflict with Russia was entering a military stage. The conflict is shifting from a political to a military stage, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told an emergency government meeting. Russian soldiers have started shooting at Ukrainian military servicemen, and that is a war crime. Russian troops took effective control of Crimea last month and supported Sundays referendum. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has condemned the so-called authorities in Ukraine, saying they had stolen power in a coup. The new leaders assumed power after months of protests that forced President Victor Yanukovich out of power. Ukrainians were protesting against his refusal to sign a trade pact with the European Union in favour of a credit line worth billions of dollars from Russia. Putin said Sundays vote was in line with international law, reflecting its right for self-determination. He pointed at the example of Kosovos independence bid, supported by the West, and said that Crimeas secession from Ukraine repeats Ukraines own secession from the Soviet Union in 1991. He denied Western accusations that Russia invaded Crimea prior to the referendum, saying Russian troops were sent there in line with a treaty with Ukraine that allows Russia to have up to 25,000 troops at its Black Sea Fleet base in Crimea. Tough sanctions Putins address to parliament came after he ignored the toughest sanctions against Moscow since the end of the Cold War and recognised the Crimean Peninsula as an independent and sovereign country. He said in his speech that Russia had been suffering from unofficial sanctions since the end of the Cold War, despite the fact that formal restrictions had been lifted. Tensions between Russia and the West have soared over the Crimea crisis, and the US and EU have imposed asset freezes and other sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials involved. Meanwhile, US Vice President Joe Biden and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk rejected Putins remarks during a press conference held in Warsaw. The world has rejected the flawed logic behind these actions, Biden said, adding that the Russian military movement in Crimea is nothing but a land grab. At the beginning of a two-day trip to Europe that also includes a visit to Lithuania, Biden assured Poland that the US is a steadfast ally and that it will protect NATO allies on Russian borders, if needed. Russias economic isolation will only increase if it continues down this path, and we will see additional sanctions by the US and the EU, Biden said.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:17:40 +0000