Ukraine's fury as Russia sends troops into Crimea: Gunmen take over airports and surround border post

• U.S. and Britain have held crisis phone calls with Russian President Putin
• Told him not to intervene in Ukraine's Crimea as tensions in region rise
• Today 10 Russian helicopters flew into Crimea airspace, reports suggest
• Servicemen blockading port city of Secastopol, Kiev border guard claims
  
• Country's new interior minister branded the act an 'armed invasion'
  
• 2,000 troops are private security hired by Russian military, reports suggest
  
• 'The U.S. is deeply concerned about Russian military movements' - Obama
  
• President warned 'there will be costs' for military intervention in Ukraine
  
• Comes as UK Foreign office alert warns against all travel to Crimea
  

By David Williams and James Chapman and Jill Reilly and Lizzie Edmonds

PUBLISHED: 02:17 EST, 28 February 2014 | UPDATED: 20:44 EST, 28 February 2014

Ukraine accused Russia of an ‘armed invasion and occupation’ in Crimea yesterday as it was claimed 2,000 troops had been flown into  the region.

The military moves, which saw access blocked to two major airports and the taking over of a border post, came as ousted president Viktor Yanukovych appeared in public for the first time since he fled from Ukraine to Russia.

The 63-year-old claimed he had been forced from power by ‘nationalist, pro-fascist gangsters’.

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Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region on Friday in what Ukraine's government described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces, stoking tension between Moscow and the West

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A Russian soldier on an armoured personnel carrier halted on a road in Ukraine around 20 miles from Sebastapol, where there is a large Russian military presence. British civilians have been told by the Foreign Office to leave Crimea immediately, although an evacuation has not been arranged.

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Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region on Friday in what Ukraine's government described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces, stoking tension between Moscow and the West

He also used his speech on Russian television to blame the crisis on the West for ‘indulging’ protesters.

Ukraine’s new government has said it will apply to Russia for Mr Yanukovych’s extradition to face charges of mass murder over the deaths of nearly 100 people in clashes around Kiev’s Independence Square.

In a move bound to be seen by the West as deeply hostile and dangerous, the Kremlin was last night moving troops across the Black Sea from Novorossiysk to their fleet base at Sevastopol.

At least 20 men wearing the uniform of the Russian fleet and carrying automatic rifles surrounded a Ukrainian border guard post in a standoff near the port yesterday.

Last night it was still unclear the exact scale of Russian boots on the ground in Crimea or the identity of gunmen who have taken over airports in Simferopol and Sevastopol – though reports suggest they are Russian marines or Moscow- controlled militias.

According to The Daily Beast, the unmarked troops are hired private security that could be paving the way for ousted President Viktor Yanukovich to return to the region.

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Two soldiers stand on top of a Russian armoured personnel carrier as it is parked on a road near Bakhchisarai, in the Crimea

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A solider on board a Russian armoured personnel carrier, one of a convoy of up to nine vehicles which was spotted on the move in the Ukraine, around 20 miles from Sebastapol on Friday

Although the website stressed the information is not confirmed, it claims a well informed source says the troops belong to Vnevedomstvenaya Okhrana - a private security firm that works for the Russian interior ministry. The firm hires people to protect Russian assets in Crimea, the website reports.

Ukrainian interior minister Arsen Avakov accused Russia of invading the country, saying: ‘I consider what has happened to be an armed invasion and occupation in violation of all international agreements.’

Yesterday there were unconfirmed reports that Russian soldiers had been flown in to one of the occupied airports.

A Ukrainian official claimed 13 Russian aircraft carrying nearly 2,000 troops had landed at a military air base near Simferopol.

US warns Russia: Stay out of the Ukraine

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John Kerry, left and right President Putin. Speaking at a news conference with the foreign minister of Colombia, Kerry said he had raised the issue of the airports as well as reports of Russian armored vehicles and personnel in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

On Thursday, masked gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles also seized the parliament building in Simferopol and raised the Russian flag.

Russia scrambled fighter jets to patrol borders in the first stirrings of a potentially dangerous confrontation reminiscent of Cold War brinksmanship – while yesterday its helicopters flew over Crimea.

Significantly, Russia’s parliament has been rushing through laws to make it easier to absorb new territories into its state, sparking suspicions Crimea and possibly other regions of Ukraine – all former parts of the old Soviet empire – could be re-incorporated by president Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine has asked the UN Security Council to step in but any appeal for help is likely to be problematic as Russia is a permanent council member and can block any action.

Speaking in Russian during his televised press conference, Mr Yanukovych claimed the Kremlin’s strong-arm tactics in Crimea were ‘an absolutely natural reaction to the bandit-like takeover that happened in Kiev’.

Evading all questions on his alleged cowardice in fleeing, and suspected secret wealth, Mr Yanukovych claimed: ‘I am the legitimately elected president of Ukraine.

'I have not been overthrown by anyone, I was compelled to leave Ukraine due to an immediate threat to my life and the life of those close to me.’

David Cameron was among the world leaders who called Mr Putin about the crisis, encouraging him to respect Ukrainian sovereignty.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was due to meet Ukraine’s interim leaders in Kiev tomorrow.

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Ukraine's ex-President Yanukovych has made his first public appearance since being ousted, telling a news conference that he was going to fight for his country's future

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This afternoon Yanukovych told a news conference in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don:  'I intend to keep fighting for the future of Ukraine against those who are using fear and terror to seize the country'

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US President Barack Obama warned of the ‘costs’ of any Russian intervention in Ukraine. Such a move would be ‘deeply destabilising’, he added.

The Kremlin said Mr Putin would continue talks with Ukraine on economic and trade relations and  consult foreign partners, including the International Monetary Fund, on financial aid.

It said he would consider a request from Crimea for humanitarian aid – in a move seen by some as disturbing as it could provide an excuse for military intervention.

Last night Russia finally confirmed it had moved troops into Crimea.

The Russian foreign ministry said it had informed the Ukrainian government that armoured units from the naval base near Sevastopol had entered Crimea to safeguard the positions of its Black Sea Fleet.

Meanwhile, Ukraine International Airlines says it has canceled flights to and from the regional capital of Crimea due to the closure of the airspace over the peninsula.

The airline said it has canceled flights to and from Simferopol airport on Friday evening and Saturday.

Speaking yesterday at a news conference with the foreign minister of Colombia, John Kerry said he had raised the issue of the airports as well as reports of Russian armored vehicles and personnel in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

'While we were told that they are not engaging in any violation of the sovereignty and do not intend to, I nevertheless made it clear that that could be misinterpreted at this moment and that there are enough tensions that it is important for everybody to be extremely careful not to inflame the situation and not to send the wrong messages,' Kerry said.

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Russian military forces are blockading an airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea, an act Ukraine's new interior minister has announced branded an 'armed invasion'

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As events in the Crimea region heighten tensions with neighboring Russia, this morning armed men also took over the other main Crimean airport, Simferopol, according to a Facebook post by Mr Avakov

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Dozens of armed men in military uniforms without markings were seen patrolling the airport in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea

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The move came as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Ukraine's new prime minister that the U.S. welcomes the formation of the country's new government

'The question is whether or not what is happening now might be crossing a line in any way and we are going to be very careful in making our judgments about that,' he added.

Yesterday he Kremlin put out a statement outlining President Vladimir Putin's orders on Ukraine.

The Kremlin said  Putin had ordered his government 'to conduct consultations with foreign partners, including the International Monetary Fund, on the provision of financial aid to Ukraine'.

The three-paragraph statement offered little insight into the mind of a man who hoped Ukraine would play a central role in his project for a trade bloc stretching from the frontiers of China to the edge of the EU. 

But it spoke volumes to his attitude towards Western support for the new leadership in Ukraine - and contained a veiled warning that if talks about saving Kiev from bankruptcy were held without Russia, they will act.

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The White House has said that by fleeing the capital, President Viktor Yanukovych abdicated power

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On Thursday, masked gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles seized the parliament and government offices in Simferopol and raised the Russian flag over the parliament building

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Yanukovych has not been seen publicly since Saturday, and he declared Thursday in a statement that he remains Ukraine's legitimate president

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John Kerry said that Russia has told the United States that it will respect the sovereignty of Ukraine and that military exercises near the Russian-Ukraine border are not a prelude to an intervention

Biden called Yatsenyuk to tell him the U.S. will give full support as Ukraine seeks to restore order in the wake of a major political crisis.

The White House has said that by fleeing the capital after recent deadly protests in Kiev swept in a new government, President Viktor Yanukovych had abdicated power, but Yanukovych in a statement still claimed authority. Biden had spoken to him regularly during the crisis until he fled.

Yatsenyuk was overwhelmingly approved by parliament Thursday.

He is widely viewed as a technocratic reformer and has said Ukraine's future lies with the European Union.

On Thursday, masked gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles seized the parliament and government offices in Simferopol and raised the Russian flag over the parliament building.

It scrambled fighter jets on Thursday to patrol borders in the first stirrings of a potentially dangerous confrontation reminiscent of Cold War brinksmanship.

Ukraine's parliament on Thursday elected a new government led by a pro-Western technocrat who promptly pledged to prevent any national break-up.

Moscow has been sending mixed signals about Ukraine but pledged to respect its territorial integrity. Russian President Vladimir Putin has long dreamed of pulling Ukraine, a country of 46 million people considered the cradle of Russian civilization, closer into Moscow's orbit.

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Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko shakes hands with a man as she arrives to visit the tent camp of her supporters in the center of Kiev today

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Judicial authorities in Geneva said Friday they have launched a criminal investigation into alleged money laundering by ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych and his son

Ukraine's population is divided in loyalties between Russia and the West.

Crimea, which was seized by Russian forces in the 18th century under Catherine the Great, was once the crown jewel in Russian and then Soviet empires.

It only became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred jurisdiction from Russia, a move that was a mere formality until the 1991 Soviet collapse meant Crimea landed in an independent Ukraine.

In a bid to shore up Ukraine's fledgling administration, the International Monetary Fund has said it is 'ready to respond' to Ukraine's bid for financial assistance.

The European Union is also considering emergency loans for a country that is the chief conduit of Russian natural gas to western Europe.

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Ukraine's finance ministry has said it needs $35 billion over the next two years to avoid default.

Yesterday Secretary of State John Kerry said that Russia has told the United States that it will respect the sovereignty of Ukraine and that military exercises near the Russian-Ukraine border are not a prelude to an intervention.

Kerry warned Russia this week against a military intervention the former Soviet republic and said it could face a strong response from the West, though he did not specify what that might be.

'We will look to Russia for the choices that it makes in the next days for their confirmation of these statements,' Kerry said at a State Department news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

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Ukraine's newly appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk delivers a speech at the Ukrainan parliament on Thursday

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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Ukraine's new prime minister that the U.S. welcomes the formation of the country's new government

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Vladimir Putin granted shelter to Ukraine's fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych has a news conference scheduled today (file photo)

'Words are words. We have all learned that it's actions and the follow-on choices that make the greatest difference.'

Kerry predicted that the military exercise will not be 'so prolonged that it is going to have an impact on events there.'

'Everybody needs to step back and avoid provocations,' Kerry said. Kerry said the U.S. also supports a vote Thursday by Ukraine's parliament to approve the transitional government that will run the country until elections in May.

But in Ukraine's strategic Crimea region, gunmen stormed government buildings and raised a Russian flag over the regional parliament.

Moscow is 'concerned' about the takeover in Crimea, and Kerry said Lavrov 'disclaimed that it had anything to do with any formal Russian initiative.'

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Further unrest in Ukranie Pro-Russia demonstrators wave flags in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine

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Ukrainian men help pull one another out of a stampede as a flag of Crimea is seen during clashes at rallies held by ethnic Russians and Crimean Tatars near the Crimean parliament building

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An ethnic Russian Ukrainian man holds the Crimea flag on top of an old Soviet tank during rallies near the Crimean parliament building yesterday

'They don't want to see a breakdown into violence,' Kerry said. Even so, he struck a skeptical tone, noting that Russia can't credibly claim to protect Ukraine's territorial integrity if it is also encouraging a separatist movement.

'Nowhere is there a greater connection, a link to Russia in several different ways as there is in Crimea,' Kerry told reporters.

'But as the days unfold this should not become a struggle between the United States and Russia, East and West. This is about the people of Ukraine.'

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the U.S. expects the interim government to protect the security and civil rights of all of citizens in Ukraine, which has a large Russian-speaking population.

Steinmeier said it's important for Kiev's new leaders to 'show that it is a government for all Ukrainians and that it now works together with international institutions, and with its neighbors, to stabilize the country financially.'

'East and West should not argue now about Ukraine's future,' he said.

In a statement before the news conference, Steinmeier said welcomed a move by the International Monetary Fund to send a fact-finding team to Kiev. He said he will discuss with IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Friday what the financial institution can do in terms of providing immediate aid.

'We are talking with Russia about help pledged to Ukraine not being withdrawn or canceled,' he said.
Kerry was asked if the Ukraine should be integrated into the European Union and NATO - a possibility that has strong backing in Kiev and sparked protests against Yanukovych.

Kerry said he would advise the new government to hold off and 'focus on the things that need to be focused on now.'

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Rage: An anti-Yanukovych protester argues in front of the Ukrainian parliament in central Kiev

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An ethnic Russian Ukrainian holds a Russian flag as Crimean Tatars rally near the Crimean parliament building

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Pro-Russian demonstrators march with a huge Russian flag during a protest in front of a local government building in Simferopol, Crimea

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Force: Anti-Yanukovych protesters sit on top of an armoured vehicle as it drives past a barricade in central Kiev today