Diplomatic Frenzy As Ukraine Slams Russian 'Aggression'
Latest update : 2014-02-28
Western governments urged Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday to avoid escalating the political crisis in Ukraine as armed men took control of two airports in Crimea and Russian military vehicles were identified in the strategic peninsula.
Ukraine's acting president Oleksander Turchinov on Friday accused Russia of open aggression, urging Moscow to stop its "provocations" in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea and drawing a comparison to the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008.
Western leaders urged President Vladimir Putin to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and avoid escalating tensions in the politically unstable country after Russian-speaking armed men wearing masks and no identifiable marks on their uniforms took over two airports in Crimea.
Men in fatigues took up positions around a coast guard base and two airports in the Crimean peninsula strategically located on the Black Sea. Earlier, armed men seized the Crimean parliament and a TV station.
“We saw what looked like professionally trained soldiers, armed with automatic machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers standing firmly in control of the building right under the control tower of the Simferopol civilian airport,” said Douglas Herbert from the region’s capital city.
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http://www.france24.com/en/20140228-ukraine-tensions-rise-armed-men-crimea-airports-simferopol-putin-yanukovich/