In Crimea, uncertainty grips Ukraine's military
Source: AP-Excite
By MIKE ECKEL
PEREVALNYE, Ukraine (AP) - In the eastern reaches of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, witnesses report advanced Russian surface-to-air missiles being offloaded and readied for movement. At a base near the naval port of Sevastopol, an air force commander takes to YouTube to appeal for clear orders of engagement with the Russian forces who have occupied much of his base. In a naval base near regional capital Simferopol, a commander reports feeling like a hostage, and fearing what will come in the next few days.
On the eve of Sunday's referendum on whether the Black Sea peninsula should break away from Ukraine and join Russia, Crimeans of all ethnicities waited with deepening anguish and fear about the vote that at best, will yield months or years of uncertainty, and at worst, will spark war.
Among those facing the greatest and most fraught uncertainty were Ukraine's military forces on the peninsula, who have been hemmed in by heavily armed Russian troops and warned by the region's pro-Russian leader that they would be considered "illegal" if they didn't surrender.
With the new government in Kiev struggling to respond to a threatened Russian invasion in the east, build international support and stave off economic disaster, soldiers and sailors have lamented openly that they don't know what they're supposed to be doing. And, more importantly, what they're going to do if shooting breaks out.
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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140316/DACIGR7O0.html
In this Sunday, March 2, 2014 file photo, Ukrainian soldiers guard a gate to their military base in the village of Perevalne, outside Simferopol, Ukraine. On the eve of a referendum vote that has the Black Sea peninsula resting on a razor’s edge, those facing the greatest and most fraught uncertainty was are Ukraine’s military forces on the peninsula, who have been hemmed in by heavily armed Russian troops and warned by the region’s pro-Russian leader that they would be considered “illegal” if they didn’t surrender. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
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