RUSSIA and Ukraine have edged closer to a military confrontation after Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, asked the upper house of the Russian parliament to approve the deployment of the country's armed forces in Ukraine. The request was made “in connection with the extraordinary situation developing in Ukraine and the danger to the lives of the citizens of Russian Federation and our compatriots and military personnel located within the territory”.
An official in Ukraine’s armed forces says that after several days without the use of force, military units across Ukraine have been put on heightened alert and told to open fire if they come under attack. A week ago Russian and Ukrainian military commanders informally agreed among themselves to avoid confrontation and provocations. But in the past two days several Ukrainian military units have come under attack from unidentified armed men, who are widely believed to be Russian forces. A Ukrainian military airport in Kirovsky was attacked on February 28th by some 350 men in camouflage, who smashed up navigation systems, rendering the airport unusable. Feodosiya, Ukraine’s naval base in the Black Sea, was approached by Zubr, Russian-made air-cushioned hovercraft, which retreated after the Ukrainian navy threatened resistance...
...It is understood that Russia has sent its elite units to Crimea, and that it now has between 6,000 and 7,000 men on the peninsula in addition to those already stationed in Russian bases there. The movement of troops started on February 23rd, the day of the closing ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. “This feels like 22nd June 1941,” the Ukrainian official said, referring to the day when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union.
Ukraine's armed forces are much less well-equipped than the Russian army. The total number of Ukrainian military personnel in Crimea is estimated at about 14,000. But only a few thousands of those troops are ready for combat. The forces have lacked a clear chain of command since the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych, who on February 28th gave a press conference in Russia in which he insisted that he was still Ukraine's president. Ukraine's new defence minister was appointed only a couple of days ago. Russia has chosen Ukraine's moment of greatest weakness to move into Crimea.
