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A Maidan self-defense unit member stands in support of Ukraine in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, on March 2. Ukraine’s shaky new government mobilized troops and called up military reservists Sunday amid signs of Russian military intervention in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, even as the defense minister said Kiev stood no chance against Russian troops in a rapidly escalating crisis that has raised fears of a conflict.
Demonstrators shout slogans during a rally in Kiev’s Independence Square on March 2.
Ukrainian soldiers, left, and unidentified gunmen, right, stand at the gate of an infantry base in Perevalnoye, Ukraine, on March 2.
Ukrainian soldiers guard a gate of an infantry base in Perevalnoye, Ukraine, on March 2.
People attend a rally against Russia in Kiev’s Independence Square in Kiev on March 2.
A young Ukrainian soldier stands behind the gate inside a Ukrainian military base that was surrounded by several hundred Russian-speaking soldiers in Crimea on March 2.
A soldier who was among several hundred that took up positions near a Ukrainian military base stands near the base’s periphery in Crimea on March 2.
An Orthdox clergyman stands at the gate of a Ukrainian military base that was surrounded by several hundred Russian-speaking soldiers, as Ukrainian soldiers stand just inside the gate in Crimea on March 2.
A woman sheds tears during a rally in Kiev’s Independence Square on March 2.
Protesters hold flags of the United States, Germany and Italy during a rally in Kiev’s Independence Square on March 2.
People attend a morning prayer service at Independence Square in Kiev on March 2.
Heavily armed troops, displaying no identifying insignia and who were mingling with local pro-Russian militants, stand guard outside a local government building in Simferopol, Ukraine, on March 2.
Protesters oppposing ousted President Viktor Yanukovych sing Ukraine’s national anthem in Kiev’s Independence Square on Saturday, March 1.
A woman waits in front of unidentified men in military fatigues blocking a base of the Ukrainian frontier guard unit in Balaklava, Ukraine, on March 1.
U.S. President Barack Obama talks on the phone in the Oval Office with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Ukraine, March 1
Troops stand guard in Balaklava, Crimea, on Saturday, March 1.
Heavily armed soldiers displaying no identifying insignia maintain watch in Simferopol, Ukraine, on March 1.
People gather around a coffin of a man who was killed during clashes with the riot police in Kiev’s Independence Square.
Armed men in military uniform block a Ukrainian military base in Balaklava on March 1.
Pro-Russian activists hold Russian flags during a rally in the center of Donetsk, Ukraine, on March 1.
Pro-Russian activists clash with Maidan supporters as they storm the regional government building in Kharkiv on March 1.
A protester stands at a memorial on March 1 for the people killed in clashes with the police at Kiev’s Independence Square.
Armed men patrol outside the Simferopol International Airport in Ukraine’s Crimea region on Friday, February 28. Simferopol is the regional capital of Ukraine’s Crimea.
An image provided to CNN by a local resident shows Russian tanks on the move in Sevastopol, Ukraine.
Russian troops block a road February 28 toward the military airport in Sevastopol, Ukraine, on the Black Sea coast. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is based at the port city of Sevastopol. Ukraine suspects Russia of fomenting tension in the autonomous region of Crimea, which might escalate into a bid for separation by its Russian majority.
Armed men stand guard in front of a building near the Simferopol airport on February 28.
An armed man wearing no identifying military insignia patrols outside Simferopol International Airport on February 28.
Police stand guard outside the Crimea regional parliament building in Simferopol on Thursday, February 27. Armed men seized the regional government administration building and parliament in Crimea.
Police intervene as Russian supporters gather in front of the parliament building in Simferopol on February 27.
A man adds fuel to a fire at a barricade on Kiev’s Independence Square on February 27. Dozens of people were killed last week during clashes between security forces and protesters.
Pro-Russia demonstrators wave Russian and Crimean flags in front of a local government building in Simferopol on February 27.
Barricades in front of a government building in Simferopol on February 27 hold a banner that reads: “Crimea Russia.” There’s a broad divide between those who support the pro-Western developments in Kiev and those who back Russia’s continued influence in Crimea and across Ukraine.
Protesters stand in front of a government building in Simferopol on February 27. Tensions have simmered in the Crimea region since the Ukraine president’s ouster.
Protesters in support of the president’s ouster rally in Kiev’s Independence Square, which has been the center of opposition, on Wednesday, February 26.
Security forces stand guard during clashes between opposing sides in front of Crimea’s parliament building in Simferopol on February 26.
Pro-Russian demonstrators, right, clash with anti-Russian protesters in front of a government building in Simferopol on February 26.
A police officer gets pulled into a crowd of Crimean Tatars in Simferopol on February 26. The Tatars, an ethnic minority group deported during the Stalin era, is rallying in support of Ukraine’s interim government.
A man places flowers at a barricade near Kiev’s Independence Square on February 26.
A woman holds a photograph of a protester killed during the height of tensions on February 26 in Kiev.
Police guard a government building in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on February 26.
Protesters remove a fence that surrounds Ukraine’s parliament in Kiev on February 26.
People sing the Ukrainian national anthem at Kiev’s Independence Square on Monday, February 24.
Gas masks used by protesters sit next to a barricade in Independence Square on February 24.
A woman cries February 24 near a memorial for the people killed in Kiev.
People wave a large Ukrainian flag in Independence Square on Sunday, February 23.
Two pro-government supporters are made to pray February 23 in front of a shrine to dead anti-government protesters.
A man and his daughter lay flowers at a memorial for protesters killed in Independence Square.
Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko speaks at Independence Square on Saturday, February 22, hours after being released from prison. Tymoshenko, considered a hero of a 2004 revolution against Yanukovych, was released after 2½ years behind bars.
Tymoshenko is greeted by supporters shortly after being freed from prison in Kharkiv on February 22.
A protester guards the entrance to Yanukovych’s abandoned residence outside Kiev on February 22.
Anti-government protesters guard the streets next to the presidential offices in Kiev on February 22.
Anti-government protesters drive a military vehicle in Independence Square on February 22. Many protesters said they wouldn’t leave the square until Yanukovych resigned.
Ukrainian lawmakers argue during a session of Parliament on Friday, February 21.
Men in Kiev carry a casket containing the body of a protester killed in clashes with police.
Protesters cheer after news of an agreement between the opposing sides in Kiev on February 21.
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Simferopol, Ukraine (CNN) — Leaders of a shaky new government in Ukraine were mobilizing troops Sunday amid signs of Russian military intervention in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
The Ukrainian National Security Council ordered the mobilization as Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to dismiss warnings from world leaders to avoid military intervention in Crimea, a senior Ukrainian official, Andriy Parubiy, said. The news came as evidence mounted that pro-Russian forces were already in Crimea, an autonomous region of eastern Ukraine with strong loyalty to neighboring Russia.
A sense of escalating crisis swirled Saturday night, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemning what he called “the Russian Federation’s invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory” despite a statement by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that no decision had been made on whether Moscow would dispatch forces.
Russia has not confirmed it deployed thousands of troops to the region following reports that armed, Russian-speaking forces wearing military uniforms — without insignia — patrolled key infrastructure sites.
It was the latest in fast-moving developments that saw Russia’s Parliament sign off on Putin’s request to send military forces into Ukraine, raising the stakes in the escalating game of brinksmanship.
Putin cited in his request a threat posed to the lives of Russian citizens and military personnel based in southern Crimea. Ukrainian officials have vehemently denied Putin’s claim. CNN crews in and around Crimea’s regional capital of Simferopol, meanwhile, have not seen evidence of a Ukrainian military presence.
Putin’s move prompted world diplomats to call for a de-escalation of tensions that have put the two neighbors on a possible path to war and roiled relations between Russia and the United States.
In what appeared to be an illustration of the growing schism between the two world powers, U.S. President Barack Obama and Putin spoke for 90 minutes — with each expressing their concern over the mounting crisis, according to separate statements released by their respective governments.
According to the Kremlin, Putin told Obama that Russia reserves the right to defend its interests in the Crimea region and the Russian-speaking people who live there.
“President Obama made clear that Russia’s continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would negatively impact Russia’s standing in the international community,” according to a statement released by the White House.
Lean to the West, or to Russia?
Ukraine, a nation of 45 million people sandwiched between Europe and Russia’s southwestern border, has been plunged into chaos since the ouster a week ago of President Viktor Yanukovych following bloody street protests that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded.
Ukraine has faced a deepening schism, with those in the west generally supporting the interim government and its European Union tilt, while many in the east preferring a Ukraine where Russia casts a long shadow.
Nowhere is that feeling more intense than in Crimea, the last big bastion of opposition to the new political leadership. Ukraine suspects Russia of fomenting tension in the autonomous region that might escalate into a bid for separation by its Russian majority.
Ukraine acting President Oleksandr Turchynov took to the airwaves late Saturday to warn that any Russian military intervention would lead to war. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said his country was ready to mobilize its forces to protect strategic locations, including nuclear power plants.
‘The troops are already there’
The crisis raised alarm bells with the worlds diplomats, with Ukrainian ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev calling on member nations of the U.N. Security Council to take a stand against what he called Russia’s “clear act of aggression.”
“… The troops are already there, and their number is increasing every hour,” Sergeyev said during an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
Russia now has 15,000 troops in Ukraine’s Crimea region, Yegor Pyvovarov, the spokesman for the Ukraine mission at the United Nations, told CNN ahead of Saturday’s session of the Security Council. He did not say how Ukraine arrived at that number, or whether that included troops already stationed at a Russian base in the region.
Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, rejected Ukraine’s calls to stop Russian intervention. “We can’t agree with this at all,” he said.
He blamed members of the European Union for causing the bloody street demonstrations in Ukraine.
“It’s a difficult situation in the past few hours,” Churkin said, claiming that there were Ukrainian forces from Kiev en route to to overthrow the local pro-Russian governments in eastern Ukraine and Crimea and establish new ones that would enforce the power of the new Ukrainian government.
Churkin has said reports of Russian troops taking charge of positions on the ground were rumors and noted that rumors “are always not true.”
Crimea’s pro-Russian leader asked for help
The Russian Parliament vote Saturday came on the day that the newly installed pro-Russian leader of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, asked Putin for help in maintaining peace on the Black Sea peninsula — where Russia’s fleet is based at Sevastopol.
Security forces “are unable to efficiently control the situation in the republic,” he said in comments broadcast on Russian state channel Russia 24. Aksyonov was installed as the region’s premier after armed men took over the Crimean Parliament building on Thursday.
Aksyonov said that a referendum on greater Crimean autonomy, originally set for May 25, would be moved to March 30.
Yatsenyuk called the Russian presence in Crimea a provocation.
“Ukraine will not be provoked, we will not use force. We demand that the government of the Russian Federation immediately withdraw its troops and return to their home bases,” he said during a televised Cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, Ukraine Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh said his nation’s military was at its highest state of military readiness. He credited negotiations during the day between the Ukrainian and Russian naval chiefs with easing tensions and said more negotiations were planned for Sunday.
Airspace in the region reopened Saturday, a day after Ukraine accused Russian Black Sea forces of trying to seize two airports in Crimea but said Ukrainian security forces had prevented them from taking control.
Groups of armed men, dressed in uniforms without identifying insignia, patrolled the airports in Simferopol and the nearby port city of Sevastopol. The men remained at the airports Saturday, but Yevgey Plaksin, director of the airport in Simferopol, said airport services were working.
Obama: Warning to Russia
Meanwhile, Obama’s message to Russia also reached Congress, where the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee called for an immediate response to Russia’s move.
“Every moment that the United States and our allies fail to respond sends the signal to President Putin that he can be even more ambitious and aggressive in his military intervention in Ukraine,” Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said in a statement.
He called on Obama to “make clear what costs Russia will face for its aggression and to impose those consequences without further delay.”
Senior White House officials say they are looking at a wide range of possible economic and diplomatic measures to present to Obama that would show Putin there is a cost to his actions in Ukraine.
The White House has already announced the United States will suspend participation in preparatory meetings for the G-8 Summit that will bring world leaders together in June in Sochi, Russia.
“Going forward, Russia’s continued violation of international law will lead to greater political and economic isolation,” according to a statement released by the administration.
Pressure was mounting on Russia as leaders from the EU and the UK joined an international outcry, with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton deploring Russia’s “unwarranted escalation of tensions.”
During a telephone call with Putin, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he told the Russian leader that it was crucial to “restore calm and proceed to an immediate de-escalation of the situation.”
“Cool heads must prevail and dialogue must be the only tool in ending this crisis,” he said.
CNN’s Victoria Eastwood and Diana Magnay reported from Simferopol, Ukraine, Ingrid Formanek and Victoria Butenko from Kiev, while Chelsea J. Carter wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Richard Roth, Laura Smith-Spark, Tom Watkins, Sara Mazloumsaki, Alla Eshchenko, Arkady Irshenko, Radina Gigova and journalist Azad Safarov contributed to this report.
