Ukraine Crisis

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Various news organisations are reporting that armed men have seized the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol and hoisted a Russian flag.  It doesn't seem clear who they are.

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Crimea is apparently going to hold some sort of referendum on its status at the same time as the May elections.  The question is reported as "Does the Autonomous Republic of Crimea possess governmental independence or continue to be part of Ukraine on the basis of treaties and agreements – Yes or No?"

The whole situation looks very messy, and I can't see how having people like Svoboda in government in Kiev helps...

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Guardian reporter Harriet Salem (via the Guardian's live blog):

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The Guardian's Moscow correspondent wasn't very impressed with Yanukovych's press conference.  Anyway, Yanukovych claims he's still president, and that he thinks Crimea should remain within Ukraine, but that what's happened there was "a natural reaction to the bandit coup in Kiev".

Elsewhere, apparently Vladimir Zhirinovsky turned up in Sevastopol.

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There are reports that Crimean airspace has been closed.  (BBC News)

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I wouldn't entirely rule out the possibility that they're trying to carve out a puppet state on Ukrainian territory for Yanukovych.

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Russia is apparently talking about building a bridge across the Kerch Strait (the strait at the eastern end of Crimea, at the entrance to the Sea of Azov); this would give a connection from Crimea to Russia without going through the rest of Ukraine.

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There is some doubt about the existence of the ultimatum.

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According to the Crimean deputy prime minister, the referendum on the future status of the peninsula was pushed up by another two weeks and is now set for March 16. Also, the referendum won't be about independence anymore, but whether Crimea wants to join the Russian Federation.

AP via the Guardian on this:

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U.S. State Department releases a "fact sheet" on Ukraine that starts with:

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http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/03/222988.htm

Well, perhaps they were pleased with themselves about that Dostoyevsky line.  But what they say about number 10 is a bit dubious given that Svoboda have substantial representation in parliament and in the new government, and I understand that the leader of Right Sector (who appear to be made up of people who think Svoboda have gone soft) has been given a government post.

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Ukrainian foreign office statement (via Guardian):

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Strilkove is in the Kherson oblast part of a spit of land on the western side of the Sea of Azov which is split between Kherson oblast and Crimea.

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According to Al Jazeera, the Russian line on the Strilkove incident is that they were trying to prevent a "terrorist attack" on a gas plant.  (The implication was also that the Russian troops are still there.)

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According to the Guardian, a Svoboda member of the Ukrainian parliament was a member of a group of men who stormed in to the office of a head of a TV station, physically attacked him and forced him to write a resignation letter for being too pro-Russian.

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No mention of the "referendum" results?  96% for the separatists in Luhansk, only 90% in Donetsk...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/12/ukraine-crisis-donetsk-region-asks-join-russia