BALTIMORE, Maryland March 16, 2014 (12:11 am) - As a pro-Ukraine demonstration numbering in the "tens of thousands" in Moscow showed that all of Russia is not united behind Strong Man Vladimir Putin, clashes between pro and anti-Russian factions in Eastern Ukraine left as many as three dead, and the Ukrainian Government reported that Russian troops have crossed the Ukrainian border and seized a natural gas processing plant in Eastern Ukraine. All of this in the hours before a referendum of sorts is set to start in Crimea. The Russian Government is asking Crimeans to vote on whether they want to remain part of Ukraine or join Russia. But the vote will take place as up to 20,000 Russian Troops run roughshod throughout this Black Sea Peninsula.
The Moscow demonstration sobered all of Russia on the eve of the disputed Crimean referendum. Reports said that one or more members of the Rock Band "Pussy Riot" were among the demonstrators. Other Moscow demonstrators were backing Putin, reports said. UN observers have been forcibly prevented from entering the Ukrainian province and Ukraine military outposts have been surrounded by Russian troops and ethnic Russian para-military units. In Eastern Ukraine, clashes between pro-Russian demonstrators and pro-Ukrainian demonstators have left one dead in Donetsk and two dead in Kharkiv, the ITV said Saturday. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said its air force and army repelled an attempted incursion in Ukraine on Saturday in the Kherson region of Arbatskaya Strelka by Russian army units. But Fox reported that 120 Russian soldiers, supported by helicopter gunships, took a natural gas terminal without resistance. It was unclear last night if the Ukrainian forces had re-taken the terminal.
The United States has dispatched a second battleship to the Black Sea, angering Russia, but the USA Navy said the assignment of the USS Truxton, a guided missle destroyer, was planned in advance. Reports said that the Truxton took part in exercises last week with the Bulgarian and Romanian Navies. The Truxton is said to carry 300 Sailors, according to Military.com. According to Military.com, the Russian Military has surrounded nearly one dozen Ukrainian Military installations. The Ukrainian Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh provided this list to Military.com:
"The list included Ukrainian naval headquarters in Sevastopol; a base in nearby Perevalnoye; a marine battalion in Feodosia on the southern coast; a navy battalion in Kerch on the eastern tip of Crimea; a naval base in Novoozernoye west of Simferopol, the main city and administrative headquarters; and the Belbek military airfield near Sevastopol...Ukrainian ships were also blocked in Sevastopol's outer bay and Lake Donuzlav in the west.
The voting in the Crimea is supposed to begin at 8 am, local time.
No comments:
Post a Comment