2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine

Following the events of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, a secession crisis began on Ukraine's Russian-leaning Crimean Peninsula. In late February 2014, unidentified armed forces began to take over the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. Ukraine and Western observers identified the gunmen as Russian Special Forces and allied paramilitaries.

Russia, which has various strategic interests in and historical ties to Crimea, insists that the forces did not include Russian troops, but only local self defense forces, and that the up to 25,000 troops stationed in Sevastopol under the 2010 Kharkiv Pact remained uninvolved and within the treaty's limits prior to the referendum and reunification of Crimea with Russia. Their subsequent open involvement was said to be in response to the will of the local population and as a humanitarian effort to protect ethnic Russians in the region. Russia does not recognize the newly installed interim government in Ukraine, instead recognizing ousted-President Viktor Yanukovych, whose request for intervention has also been cited.

The Ukrainian response so far has been muted as its leaders seek diplomatic solutions, with military reaction on their part limited to a mobilization of Ukraine's armed forces and reserves. Russia, however, has vowed that its troops will stay until the political situation has been "normalised".

The Supreme Council of Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine, and held a referendum on 16 March 2014 on whether Crimea should join the Russian Federation or remain part of Ukraine with the autonomy it had in 1992. The referendum resulted in a reported turnout of over 81%, where over 95% of voters supported Crimea joining the Russian Federation. The events caused alarm among the Crimean Tatar ethnic group, whose members were deported en masse to Central Asia in 1944 under orders from Joseph Stalin, claiming a huge death toll.

Internationally, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Georgia, Moldova, Turkey, Australia and the European Union condemned Russia, accusing it of breaking international law and violating Ukrainian sovereignty. The US, EU, and Canada threatened and later implemented sanctions against Russian individuals considered to be involved based on "Russia's clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity", to which Russia responded in kind. China, India  and many developing countries remained relatively neutral. On March 27, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared Crimea referendum invalid and called on all States, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any alteration of the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on the basis of the 16 March referendum.

Background
On 22 February 2014 Ukrainian protesters overthrew the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, after months of protests. The opposition took control of the capital city Kiev and the government district; soon after President Yanukovych left for Kharkiv to attend a summit of south-eastern regions, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) voted to restore the 2004 version of the Constitution of Ukraine and remove Yanukovych from power; however, the impeachment procedure, as defined by Ukrainian constitution Article 111, was not followed. President Yanukovych refused to resign and politicians from Ukraine's east and south regions, including Crimea, declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych.

On 23 February, following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a bill to repeal the law on minority languages, which includes Russian. In so doing, Russian-speaking regions were infuriated that the new parliament desired to make Ukrainian the sole state language at all levels, seemingly pressing ahead with Ukrainian nationalism. A few days later, however, on 1 March 2014, Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov vetoed the bill, effectively stopping its enactment.

In the meantime, on the morning of 27 February, Berkut units from Crimea and other regions of Ukraine (dissolved by the decree of 25 February) seized checkpoints on the Isthmus of Perekop and Chonhar peninsula. According to Ukrainian MP Hennadiy Moskal, former Chief of Crimean police, they had armored personnel carriers, grenade launchers, assault rifles, machine guns and other weapons. Since then they have controlled all land traffic between Crimea and continental Ukraine.

Also on the early morning of 27 February, men in military uniform in Simferopol, the capital city of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, seized the Crimean parliamentary building and the Council of Ministers building and replaced the Ukrainian flag with the Russian flag. They ousted the prime minister appointed by the President of Ukraine and installed a pro-Russian politician, Sergey Aksyonov, as Crimea's prime minister. Aksyonov's Russian Unity party took just 4 percent of the votes in the 2010 elections. Aksyonov illegally declared himself in charge of local military and law enforcement. On 1 March, the acting president of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, decreed the Crimean legislature's appointment of Aksyonov as unconstitutional, as the position of prime minister is appointed by the president of Ukraine, and not elected by parliament. The Crimean legislature has declared its intention to hold a referendum on greater autonomy from Kiev on 25 May 2014, a move which Hatidzhe Mamutova, the head of the League of Crimean-Tatar Women, called illegal.

Councilors in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, home to the Russian and Ukrainian Black Sea naval fleets, selected Russian citizen Aleksei Chalyi as mayor, as pro-Russian demonstrators chanted "a Russian mayor for a Russian city". Furthermore, Sevastopol's police chief said he would refuse orders from Kiev. In Sevastopol, Kerch, and other Crimean cities, pro-Russian demonstrators pulled down the flag of Ukraine and replaced it with the flag of Russia in clashes with city officials.

Russian units began moving into Crimea almost immediately after the press conference of former president Yanukovych held on 28 February 2014 in Rostov-on-Don, near the eastern border of Ukraine, where he called for Putin to "restore order" in Ukraine. During the conference Yanukovych insisted that military action was "unacceptable" and that he would not request Russian military intervention. On 4 March 2014 Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, presented a photocopy of a letter signed by Victor Yanukovich on 1 March 2014 asking to use the Russian armed forces to restore the rule of law, peace, order, stability and protection of the population of Ukraine. Aksyonov also appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide assistance in ensuring the peace in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Both houses of the Russian legislature (Federal Assembly) voted on 1 March 2014 to give Vladimir Putin the right to use Russian troops in Crimea.

Strategic importance
The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the Crimean peninsula with only the Strait of Kerch separating it from Russia to the east by a short 15 km. Crimea is a part of Ukraine but, as an autonomous republic, it has its own constitution. According to the 2001 census, 58% of the two million residents of Crimea are ethnic Russians, 24% are ethnic Ukrainians, and 12% are Crimean Tatars. As tensions escalated in the region, Russia intervened under the justification that it must "protect Russian civilians and military in Ukraine".

The Russian-Ukrainian Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet, signed in 1997 and prolonged in 2010, determined the status of the military bases and vessels in Crimea. Russia is allowed to maintain up to 25,000 troops, 24 artillery systems (with a caliber smaller than 100 mm), 132 armored vehicles, and 22 military planes, on the Crimean and Sevastopol. The Russian Black Sea fleet is allowed to stay in Crimea until 2042.

At the same time, the Port of Sevastopol and the town of Kacha are located in Sevastopol, a city in the southwestern area of the peninsula that does not belong to Crimea administratively. Both locations hold key strategic value for Russia, economically and militarily. The Port of Sevastopol, which Russia currently leases from Ukraine, is considered a key hold for maritime routes between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and by extension the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. It is also one of the few warm deepwater ports in the Black Sea available to Russia.

As the Ukrainian revolution unfolded—and as the newly installed Ukrainian government began to distance itself from Russia—it may have been the case that Russia felt that its access to the port and its military bases in the Crimean peninsula were in jeopardy, according to an analyst at the CNA corporation. On the other hand, the town of Kacha serves as military headquarters for Russia's 25th Independent Anti-submarine Helicopter Regiment (25th AHR) and the 917th Independent Composite Air Regiment (917th ICAR) of the Black Sea Fleet Naval Air Force. Ensuring access to the port and Russia's military bases in the Crimean peninsula may have been two of the main factors that sparked Russia's military intervention, according to an analyst at the CNA corporation, adding that it is however hard to speculate on motivations.

Petroleum resources
Crimea also possesses several natural gas fields both onshore and offshore, all connected to Ukraine's pipeline system. The inland fields are located in Chornomorske and Dzhankoy, while offshore fields are located in the western coast in the Black Sea and in the northeastern coast in the Azov Sea:

The republic also possesses two oil fields: one onshore, the Serebryankse oil field in Rozdolne, and one offshore, the Subbotina oil field in the Black Sea.

February
On February 24, 2014, additional soldiers arrived, on the Crimean Peninsula, but the total number remained well below 25,000.

On February 26, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered urgent military exercises to test the combat readiness of his armed forces across western Russia. From that day onwards, there were reports that Russian soldiers had established a checkpoint between the major Crimean cities of Sevastopol and Simferopol.

Crimea saw a sudden increase in armed presence, with militiamen dressed in camouflage but lacking any distinctive markings appearing all over the region. President Putin denied that Russian troops stationed in Crimea left their barracks, claiming these men were "pro-Russian local self-defence forces,". The presence of Russian troops is acknowledged by new Crimean leader Sergei Aksyenov.

According to Suomen Sotilas (Soldier of Finland) magazine's expert, the troops belonged to high readiness forces of the Russian Federation.

Soldiers were seen patrolling Simferopol International Airport and Sevastopol International Airport, while Western and independent media reported Russian troop movements in Crimea, including Russian military helicopters moving into the peninsula and Russian Army trucks approaching Simferopol, the Crimean capital. Ukrainian officials said Russian forces took over a military airbase in Sevastopol, landed troops at another airbase, and surrounded a coast guard base.

March 2014
By March 2, Ukrainian military bases in Crimea were under the control of these unidentified soldiers. Soldiers infiltrated the radio-technical company at the Maganome Cape near Feodosiya; the 55th Anti-Air Defense in Yevpatoriya had been seized. Soldiers without identification, blocked the 36th Ukrainian Coastal Defense unit (Ukrainian Navy) in Perevalne (between Simferopol and Alushta) and demanded that the besieged Ukrainian Marines surrender, and 400 Russian special operations troops arrived by the Russian Black Sea Fleet BDK "Azov". Russian Special Operation soldiers attempted to disarm the 191st Training unit of Ukrainian Navy in Sevastopol; there also was an attempt by another 30 soldiers of Russia to take over the 39th Training unit of Ukrainian Navy (Sevastopol). The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine acknowledged seizure of its headquarters of the Azov-Black Sea regional administration and the Simferopol border detachment by the armed soldiers. The Crimea Front took over the building of Trade Unions in Simferopol and under the flag of Russia announced that they protect the Constitution of Ukraine; Soldiers without identification blocked the Ukrainian military installation А-0669 in Kerch.

March 2, 2014

 * Ukrainian Navy Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky officially defected and pledged allegiance to Crimea. According to MP Yuri Syrotyuk, Berezovsky had already been dismissed before his defection for ordering his troops not resist the Russian forces in case of blockade or isolation. Ukrainian units which refused to surrender informed the acting Minister of Defense Ihor Tenyukh, who replaced Berezovsky with Rear Admiral Serhiy Hayduk. Internal Troops of Ukraine in Simferopol refused to lay down their arms and side with the Russians. By 3 March 2014, Russian troops captured the Ukrainian Border Guard base in Balaklava after repeated assaults. There was reportedly one occasion when the wives of Ukrainian soldiers requested that the Russian soldiers not provoke the Ukrainian military. Russia vowed troops would stay until the political situation has been "normalised". Ukrainian media claimed at around 21:00 (LST), five vehicles with soldiers without insignia broke through the border checkpoint "Krym-Kuban" at the Kerch Strait ferry line.   The same day in Sevastopol, the crew of the command ship Slavutych  thwarted an attempt to hijack the vessel by a boat manned by unidentified armed personnel.




 * Ukrainian defence sources alleged that the commander of Russian Black Sea Fleet Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Vitko had issued an official ultimatum to all Ukrainian military servicemen to surrender by 05:00 (LST) 4 March 2014 or face a military confrontation. These allegations were denied by the Russian foreign ministry and a representative of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters. The deadline came and went without incident or attempt to storm. A Ukrainian human rights group claimed that Russian soldiers were openly standing on the perimeter of the Ukrainian hamlet Perevalne.

March 6, 2014

 * Russian sailors scuttled the decommissioned cruiser Ochakov at the entrance to Donuzlav Bay in western Crimea as a blockship, in an attempt to prevent Ukrainian navy ships from gaining access to the Black Sea. The ocean-going tug Shakhter was also scuttled some hours later at the same location.

March 7, 2014

 * On March 7, Ukraine claimed armed men attempted to storm a Ukrainian military base in Sevastopol by ramming trucks through the main gate of the base. However international media who visited the scene, said the gates did not appear to have been driven through, and there was no sign that the base had been seized. Also, another blockship, the former Black Sea Fleet rescue/diving support vessel BM-416 (VM-416) was scuttled near the Ochakov.

March 9, 2014

 * The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported that 80 Russian soldiers in trucks and supported by 40 to 50 civilians broke into and took over the navy's airfield at Novofedorivka. The air base had been previously overflown by four Mi-24 helicopters. Another airstrip was captured earlier in the day at Dzhankoi.

March 10, 2014

 * Pro-Russian forces captured a motorized infantry battalion at Bakhchysarai, a missile base at Chornomorskoe and the main military hospital in Crimea. They had occupied thirteen military posts by that date.

12 March

 * At evening, Pro-Russian forces seized an electronic surveillance outpost at the village of Olenevka. The unarmed Ukrainian personnel kept inside the compound, after dismantling the main power station.

13 March

 * At noon, a recoinnasance aircraft of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine was fired at by Russian armoured vehicles near the border city of Armyansk. It was the second incident of this kind in the last five days. Earlier, an unidentified fourth Russian vessel was sunk by the Russian navy as a blockship at Donuzlav Bay.

14 March

 * On 14 March, the Russian amphibious assault ship Yamal landed troops, trucks and at least one armoured personnel carrier at Kazachaya bay near Sevastopol. Russian high-tech corporation Rostec claims that Russian troops used equipment from the company to capture a US MQ-5B drone over Crimea, after jamming radio controlers signals to the unmanned aircraft. The report says that the UAV "belonged to the 66th American Reconnaissance Brigade, based in Bavaria". An unnamed Pentagon official denied the report on the basis that no US drone were flying missions over Crimea, and that the MQ-5B would be too basic and outdated to carry out such high-profile operation. Rostec itself later officially denied that the Avtobaza complex, a company product, had been used on Crimean territory, stating it ''is by no means responsible for the relocation and the results of the use of the equipment supplied by the Corporation's organizations within the framework of contractors' orders.

16 March

 * On March 16, the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries agreed to a truce regarding besieged Crimean bases through 21 March, according to the Ukrainian ministry of defense. The Ukrainian military began to replenish supplies at its Crimean facilities, according to the Ukrainian ministry of defense while Crimean officials said the bases' troops would be given safe passage out; the bases were expected to be taken over at the ceasefire's end. Earlier, Russian troops planted anti-tank mines around a Ukrainian marines battalion at Feodosia.

18 March: Simferopol Incident

 * One Ukrainian soldier and one pro-Russian soldier were killed and several wounded during an assault by unknown gunmen of the Ukrainian Army's Topographic Centre in Simferopol. The remainder of the Ukrainian troops were disarmed and taken prisoners. Crimean police later said that both the pro-Russian and Ukrainian forces had been fired upon from a single location. Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused the pro-Russian soldiers of committing a war crime.

19 March

 * Pro-Russian militiamen by sending women ahead attacked the Ukrainian Navy's headquarters at Sevastopol, and captured Ukrainian Navy's commander-in-chief, Serhiy Hayduk. Ukrainian Defense ministry reported another incident at the Southern Naval Base in Novoozyorne, where a tractor rammed the compound's gates and blocked the entrance. At evening, another naval base was seized without a fight by Pro-Russian forces at Bakhchisaray, and the Ukrainian personnel inside was expelled. At 20:30, Ukrainian troops fired on unidentified hostile forces which attempted to break into Belbek's air base throwing stun grenades. The attackers were repulsed.

20 March

 * Earlier in the morning on 20 March 2014 the administration ship Donbas, the tugboat Kremenets and the fire prevention motorboat Borshchiv raised the Russian Naval flags. At the same time, Russian military servicemen captured two Ukrainian corvettes in the Sevastopol Naval Base: Lutsk and Khmelnytskyi.  About 200 Ukrainian sailors were brought to the coast.  It was reported that the Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy, which had departed from her base at Odessa on 14 March, confronted four Russian warships with two assault helicopters (Mi-35) attempting to sail into Ukraine territorial waters and, although initially refused on a peaceful request, they were forced to withdraw to open sea when the frigate raised armed alert.    At Sevastopol, a Russian fleet's tug attacked the Ukrainian corvette Ternopil with grenades, inflicting some damage. At evening, 15-20 Russian special troops from the tug stormed the corvette and captured her using stun grenades and automatic fire.

21 March

 * At Sevastopol, Russian warships surrounded the Ukrainian submarine Zaporizhzhia, and attacked her with grenades. The submarine was later seized by Russian personnel. At Donuzlav Bay, the Ukrainian minesweeper Cherkasy made a fruitless attempt to negotiate the scuttled vessels and gain access to open sea; after the failure, she and the landing ship Konstantin Olshansky dropped anchor and adopted a defensive formation.

22 March

 * The Ukrainian air base at Belbek was overrun and taken over by Russian special forces forces supported by six BTR-80 armoured vehicles. The commander of the base, Yuli Mamchur, was captured, and the rest of the Ukrainian personnel evicted. One Ukrainian serviceman and one journalist were injured. At the same time, Pro-Russian militias and activists launched an assault and took control of the Ukrainian air base at Novofedorovka. The attackers threw smoke grenades on the coumpound. The Ukrainian personnel eventually abandoned the barracks. At Sevastopol, the command ship Slavutych was seized by Pro-Russian and Russian troops from a tug after her crew put up a two-hour long resistance. Earlier, the corvette Vinnytsia was also stormed and captured by Russian forces. At Donuzlav Bay, the crew of the amphibious ship Konstantin Olshansky was called to battle stations after being threatened by Russian forces.

23 March

 * According to sources from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, three senior Ukrainian military officers -among them Yuli Mamchur- remained unaccounted for in Crimea, presumibly captured by Pro-Russian militias. At Donuzlav Bay, the Ukrainian minesweeper Cherkasy made a second ill-fated attempt to negotiate the scuttled ships at the bay's entrance. At night, the Russian navy scuttled a fifth ship at the mouth of the bay.

24 March

 * Russian Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters attacked the marines base at Feodosia at early morning, firing unguided rockets on the facilities there. One building was seen engulfed by thick smoke. Later, Russian special forces, backed by at least three BTR-80s armoured vehicles assaulted the barracks from two different directions firing automatic weapons and using stun grenades. The two top Ukrainian officers, Colonel Dmitry Delyatytskyy and Mayor Rostislav Lomtev, were captured and brought to an undisclosed location. Other 80 marines were taken prisoners. There were several wounded among the Ukrainian personnel. A tug carrying Russian forces boarded and seized the amphibious ship Konstantin Olshansky at Donuzlav Bay. Ukrainian sources claim that 200 troops assaulted the vessel with the use of automatic weapons and stun grenades. The Ukrainian ship was manned by 20 crewmembers at the time, who laid up a smokescreen.  Ukrainian sources report that the crew disabled beyond repair the electronics and the engines of the vessel before surrender. The auxiliary ship Henichesk was also taken over earlier in the morning. The minesweeper Cherkasy successfuly repulsed an assault by two speedboats by manoeuvering at full speed and launching explosive charges overboard in order to keep the hostile vessels away.

25 March

 * The last warship waving the Ukrainian flag in Crimea, the minesweeper Cherkasy, was captured by the Russians after a two-hour long battle against two Mi-35 helicopters, three speedboats and the ocean-going tug Kovel at Donuzlav Bay. Bursts of automatic fire and explosions were heard by witnesses on shore. There were no casualties, but the minesweeper's rudder was disabled by the explosion of a grenade. The crew was allowed to stay in their vessel until the morning of 26 March, and hoist the Ukrainian flag until the last member of the complement leave the warship.

26 March

 * All the Ukrainian personnel held prisoners by local authorities in Crimea were released unharmed on this day, according to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense.

2 April

 * Captain Vyacheslav Demyanenko, still in captivity in Crimea, was released by the Russian Army. He had been taken prisoner on 20 March.

Kherson Oblast



 * Ukrainian media claimed that on or prior to 8 March, Russian soldiers entered the territory of Chonhar village in Henichesk Raion of Kherson Oblast, and that they placed anti-tank mines and boundary pillars. Chonhar is several kilometers north of the middle land connection to Crimea, and is now guarded by a Russian checkpoint.
 * On 7 March, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observer mission attempted to enter Crimea via Chonhar, but was blocked at the checkpoint.
 * On 12 March, members of the Security Service of Ukraine claimed to have captured a Russian military intelligence team which had infiltrated into Kherson from Crimea.
 * On 15 March, the Ukrainian Minister of Defence claimed that the Ukrainian military repelled an attempt by Russian forces to enter the Arabat Spit portion that belongs to the Kherson Oblast adjacent to Crimea. The Ukrainian military allegedly used aircraft, ground forces, and its aeromobile battalion in the operation. It was reported that 40 Russian soldiers had been landed by helicopter near the village of Strilkove, and that they were later supported by three armoured vehicles and 60 troops landed from another six helicopters.  A Ukrainian border guard spokesman estimated that there were as many as 120 Russian soldiers in the area. The Russian troops claimed they sought to protect a Chornomornaftogaz gas pumping station from possible terrorists actions.  Some reports claimed that the Russian troops remained in the area. The Crimean authorities has announced the plan to nationalize the company and privatize it at an open tender.  The Crimean deputy prime minister Rustam Temirgaliev has said that the new owner of the company would be Gazprom.
 * On 26 March, the Ukrainian State Border Service reported that two Russian Navy ships were on station 7 km (3.9 nautical miles) off Strilkove, Kherson Oblast. One of the ships was identified as the Vishnya-class intelligence ship Priazov'ye.
 * On 27 March, Ukrainian paratroopers, supported by several armoured vehicles, seized the "Mars 75" hydrographic station in Henichesk, which belongs to the Russian Black Sea fleet. The station had been vacated by Russian troops two months ago, and the Ukrainian forces only met local civilian workers. There had been a long conflict between the Ukrainian government and Russian military authorities about the control of the facilities.
 * On 28 March, two Russian helicopters from Crimea overflew Ukrainian territory in Kherson Oblast "by accident".

Other military and intelligence activities

 * The head of Chernihiv regional council announced that the Russians were conducting military movements on the Chernihiv Oblast segment of the State Border of Ukraine on 2 March. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on 3 March that Russia had started to amass troops on several segments of the eastern borders with Ukraine (Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts). Later, the Luhansk border detachment dismissed those claims as a disinformation by media. On 3 March, Russia deployed 3,500 troops and heavy equipment on the Baltic coast in Kaliningrad Oblast near Polish and Lithuanian borders, causing Lithuania and Poland, who are members of NATO, to ask for protection against a Russian invasion.


 * On 4 March two Russian vessels, the landing ship Saratov and the assault ship Yamal, entered the Black Sea through the Boshphorus strait, as did the Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaydachny.


 * On 8 March, Ukrainian border guards began a special deployment along the border with Moldova, in the Transdnistria area, in order to prevent any provocations by pro-Russian activists in Odessa Oblast.


 * On 13 March, the Russian Defence Ministry announced a buildup of Russian troops in regions along Ukraine's eastern borders, confirming at least some earlier reports. "Heavy training" involving over 10,000 troops and large amounts of equipment took place in the Rostov, Belgorod, and Kursk Oblasts. The drills were not announced in advance as is the norm. Ukrainian officials claimed the assembled force included 80,000 soldiers and several hundred each of tanks, planes, and field artillery. Following the death of a 22-year-old man in clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian protesters in Donetsk, Russia declared its readiness to intervene in Eastern Ukraine to protect ethnic Russians there.
 * By 20 March, US officials claimed the number of Russian troops had reached 20,000, including airborne and special forces.
 * On 23 March, seven Russian servicemen from the Russian Black Sea Fleet were arrested by Ukrainian Border Guards at a railway checkpoint in Donetsk Oblast while traveling in civilian clothes from Volzhsky to Sevastopol. At night, a group of at least ten unidentified armed persons in camouflage fatigues attacked a State Emergency Service of Ukraine base at Odessa, and robbed a sentry of his SKS carbine before fleeing the scene when another sentry fired warning shots.
 * On 25 March the Security Committee of Transnistria reported that a drone launched from Ukraine was shot down over its territory on 23 March.
 * On 26 March, the Ukrainian State Border Service claim that there were 40 recorded reports of Russian UAVs flights over the border, 11 of them in violation of the procedures for the use of the Ukrainian airspace.
 * On 27 March, President Obama warned that Russian troops were "massing along the border". The Pentagon estimated the number to be at least 40,000 to 50,000, an apparent increase from previous figures of 20,000 to 30,000, and claimed that the Russian forces were preparing logistics (which could be used for exercises or other military actions) and camouflaging their positions. Russian officials reiterated that the troops were participating in exercises and that there was "no intention" to invade; the Pentagon had "seen no specific indications that exercises are taking place." Ukraine's estimate had risen to nearly 100,000 soldiers. The inhabitants of Senkovka, a village located in the tripoint between Belarus, Ukraine and Russia could spot Russian tanks on the road which leads to their settlement. The vehicles were part of a force consisting of the Kantemirovskaya Armoured Division and the Pskov and Tula Airborne Divisions. The Ukrainian Air Force conducted an unprecedented large-scale exercise involving 100 MiG-29 s and Su-27 s, 23 Su-24 s, 39 L-39 s and 60 anti-aircraft battalions operating Buk-M1, S-300V1 and S-300PS systems.
 * On 28 March, a Ukrainian think tank claimed that Russian troops were regrouping along the northwestern border, around Kharkiv and Chernigov Oblasts, while they apparently withdrew from the border area of Luhansk Oblast. The Ukrainian State Border Service reported that Russian intelligence activities along Ukraine boundaries had increased, and that agents of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation were trying to to destabilize the situation in the south-eastern regions.
 * On 30 March, Ukrainian analyst Dmitry Tymchuk claimed the number of Russian soldiers on the eastern border dropped to 10,000 from an estimated of 30,000 reported by US and European intelligence agencies two days before. A concentration of armoured vehicles, however, was observed heading to the frontier in the area of Bryansk Oblast, including T-90 main-battle tanks. Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Defense, Leonid Polyakov said that Russia was engaging in "psychological pressure" and probing maneuvers around the border. The Ukrainian army received the last batch of a 330,000 dry-rations consignment supplied by the US Army through the Office of Defense Cooperation of the US embassy in Kiev, headed by Mayor Alexis Scott.


 * On 31 March, the Security Service of Ukraine reportedly captured a Captain of the Security Committee of Transnistria who attempted to set up a network to smuggle arms from Transnistria into Ukraine. He was accused of attempting to disrupt the upcoming presidential elections and of spying on the Ukrainian army and State Border Service. A Ukrainian citizen was arrested along with him.
 * On 1 April, NATO officials declared there was no evidence of a Russian withdrawal from the border area.
 * On 2 April, the Ukrainian State Border Service confirmed NATO reports claiming that Russian troops didn't withdrew from the common border with Ukraine. Ukraine's Channel 5 reporter Oleg Khryshtopa and other two members of his crew were captured by Russian soldiers near the village of Senkovka, Chernigov Oblast, while attempting to record the presence of Russian tanks on the border. According to his fiancée, Khryshtopa had sent her a message before being arrested, notifying her that the Russians had declared him persona non-grata. Khrystopa and his team were released five hours later after being interrrogated.
 * On 3 April, the Security Service of Ukraine arrested two Russian citizens accused of planning the kidnapping of a Presidential candidate and members of the local council in Lviv. They were caught with a cache of TNT blocks, small-arms ammunition, detonators, and sketchs depicting the daily movements of their intended victims. On the other hand, the Russian Federal Security Service announced the capture of 25 Ukrainian 'radicals acting on behalf of the Security Service of Ukraine', some of them alleged members of the Right Sector. They were purportedly spying Russian troops' manoeuvers and plotting terrorist attacks in the regions of Rostov, Volgograd, Tver, Orel, Belgorod, Kalmukia and Tatarstan.

Russia
<!--*Before the presence, Russia recalled its ambassador to Ukraine for consultations. Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly told US President Barack Obama, that Russia was acting to protect ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. He also drew a parallel between Crimea and Kosovo. Aleksei Pushkov, the Chairman of the Russian State Duma committee on Foreign Affairs, said that the majority of people in Crimea should be given the right of self-determination. He added that he thought the Crimean Parliament's planned referendum on 30 March (on greater Crimean autonomy, according to the BBC Russian-language service) was a much more legitimate way to achieve political change than demonstrations on Kiev's Maidan Square.


 * On 1 March, Roskomnadzor (a Russian federal media oversight agency) blocked access to the pages of 13 "Ukrainian nationalist organizations" to users in Russia on Vkontakte, the most popular social network in Russia and second most popular in Europe (after Facebook). Yury Chaika, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, ordered Roskomnadzor to effect this block. -->


 * At a meeting to protest against the Russian intervention in Ukraine that took place near to the Ministry of Defense building in Moscow on 2 March, 28 protesters were arrested by the police. Andrei Yurov, an expert of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said that the decision of the Council of the Federation allowing President Putin to use military force within the territory of Ukraine was taken on the basis of unconfirmed information about the "victims" among citizens in Crimea.

In Crimea

 * The Crimean Prime Minister Aksyonov asserted control over all security forces in Crimea and appealed to Russia for assistance in maintaining peace and tranquility. The position of Prime Minister is appointed by the President of Ukraine; On 1 March, acting president Turchynov decried the appointment of Sergei Aksyonov as the head of the government of Crimea as unconstitutional.
 * On 4 March Prime Minister Aksyonov announced the creation of a Crimean navy and Ministry of Defence. He also stated that three air defence units and over 5000 personnel pledged allegiance to Crimea.


 * On 5 March the OSCE mission in Ukraine started its work in Crimea and carried out the meetings with the representatives of local communities and of the Crimean parliament. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy announced that Russia was trying to move its military troops to hide their presence from OSCE on the Crimean peninsula.
 * On 26 March, it was announced that Ukrainian officers detained by Russian forces, including Col. Yuliy Mamchur, were being released. Those who did not join the Russian military were expected to leave the Crimean peninsula.


 * On 28 March, the Russian Defense Minister said that captured Ukrainian military hardware would be returned.

Legal aspects
Both Russia and Ukraine are signatories to the Charter of the United Nations. The ratification of said charter has several ramifications in terms of international law, particularly those that cover the subjects of sovereignty, self-determination, acts of aggression, and humanitarian emergencies. Russia on one hand, claims that its intervention on Ukraine was done for humanitarian purposes. Ukraine and other nations, on the other hand, argue that such intervention is a violation to Ukraine's sovereignty.

Russia contested that it has undertaken a humanitarian intervention to protect ethnic Russians in Crimea from threats to their safety. However, critics have claimed that such threats did not exist and that Russia's claim to humanitarian intervention is not valid. This doctrine stipulates that it is acceptable for a state to intervene into another state on exceptional circumstances of a grave humanitarian emergency to save a whole population whose lives are threatened. The precedent of incursion into another nation's sovereign territorial boundaries on such basis—without a mandate from the United Nations Security Council—was made during the Kosovo War. During the Kosovo War, NATO forces engaged forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the basis of claims that the ethnic Albanian population was facing persecution and genocide. NATO at that time claimed that the inability of the UN Security Council to act on the emergency required intervention without a mandate.

The United States has also claimed that Russia's actions have violated Ukraine's sovereignty while it has addressed Russia's claims of threats to ethnic Russians with a proposal to send international monitors to Ukraine to ensure that the rights of all Ukrainians—including ethnic Russians—are upheld.

Furthermore, both nations have also ratified several treaties between themselves. One such treaty, the Partition Treaty on the Black Sea Fleet—signed in 1997 and still in effect—allows Russia to maintain up to 25,000 Russian troops in Crimea. The US administration has asserted that Russia violated the treaty by not coordinating the troop movements with Ukraine, even though it didn't exceed the 25,000 threshold. CIA director John Brennan has stated that the legal force enacted by the treaty might have made Russia not consider its troop movements to be an invasion.

Commentary
Marc Weller, a Cambridge University professor of international law, analyzed some legal aspects of Russia's actions, concluding that they are for the most part contraventions of established law. He has opined as follows:
 * 1) "Russia has clearly and unambiguously recognised Ukraine and its present borders, [as] confirmed in the Alma Ata Declaration of December 1991, which consigned the Soviet Union to history, the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, offering security guarantees to Ukraine in exchange for removing nuclear weapons from its territory, [and] the 1997 agreement on the stationing of the Black Sea fleet in Crimean ports."
 * 2) The activity seen breached the latter agreement as it prohibited any unilateral increase of Russian forces in Crimea.
 * 3) A 1974 United Nations definition deems using "foreign armed forces on the territory of a state in contravention of the agreement governing that presence" to be an act of "aggression".
 * 4) The motive claimed by Russia – to protect Russians in another country – "lacks substance" in law according to Weller. It is, according to Weller, primarily Ukraine's responsibility (not Russia's) in law to protect Ukrainian citizens from violence (including ethnic Russian Ukrainians). There is a doctrine allowing "rescuing citizens abroad", but it only applies to "grave humanitarian emergency" (for which evidence Weller argues did not exist; although loss of functioning government is sometimes viewed as such), does not apply to "foreigners declared nationals principally for the purpose of rescuing them forcibly", and can at most be used to rescue citizens back to their country, rather than occupying parts of another country. Further, "a state intervening for genuine humanitarian purposes would not be entitled to cause a change in the status of the territory concerned."
 * 5) Although the past president of Ukraine was not removed in the correct manner (via impeachment) he was, according to Weller, "unanimously disowned by the parliament." Weller argues that the ousted President could no longer claim to represent the true sovereign of Ukraine, the people. The regional government of Crimea, according to Weller, seems to "lack the legal power" to require intervention by a foreign state.
 * 6) "According to international precedent, [Crimea] cannot simply secede unilaterally, even if that wish is supported by the local population in a referendum", not least since, according to Weller, "international practice generally seeks to accommodate separatist demands within the existing territorial boundaries". Weller also argues that, "divorce at gunpoint" is not recognized in international law.

Another expert, de, a professor of international law at the University of Bonn, shares the same legal view, as does former professor of Public Law and Eastern European Law de, who notes that a referendum by Crimea alone would previously have been invalid, as "Article 73 of the Ukrainian constitution states very clearly that questions of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty can only be decided by referendums put to the whole of the population." He states "hardly any" countries would recognize Crimea as Russia, even with a regional referendum. He draws a parallel to northern Cyprus which, 30 years after its 1983 separation, is still only recognized by the country – Turkey – that claims it.

Sumantra Maitra, from the University of Otago, New Zealand, argued that this Russian aggression can be attributed to Vladimir Putin's foreign policy and economic policy correlation, and Russian aggression is directly proportional to its economic performance. He also mentioned that Russian actions in Ukraine implies the Security Dilemma Russia is currently facing.

Ukrainian response
Interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov accused Russia of "provoking a conflict" by invading Crimea. He compared Russia's military actions to the 2008 Russia–Georgia war, when Russian troops occupied parts of the Republic of Georgia, and the breakaway enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were established under the control of Russian-backed administrations. He called on Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Crimea and stated that Ukraine will "preserve its territory" and "defend its independence". On 1 March, he warned, "Military intervention would be the beginning of war and the end of any relations between Ukraine and Russia."

On 1 March, Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov placed the Armed Forces of Ukraine on full alert and combat readiness.

Military actions in other countries
Russia's actions increased tensions in nearby countries historically within its sphere of influence, particularly the Baltics and Moldova; all have large Russian-speaking populations, and Russian troops are stationed in the breakaway Moldovan territory of Transnistria. Some devoted resources to increasing defensive capabilities, and many requested increased support from the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which they had joined in recent years. The conflict "reinvigorated" NATO, which had been created to face the Soviet Union, but had devoted more resources to "expeditionary missions" in recent years.

United States

 * On 5 March the Pentagon announced it would send six fighter jets and a refueling aircraft to augment the four already participating in the Baltic Air Policing mission.
 * 7 U.S. F-16's were scheduled to participate in a training exercise in Poland. On 6 March, it was announced that 12 fighters and 300 service personnel would go to Poland. The increase was attributed to concerns over Russian activities in Crimea.
 * An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS Truxtun (DDG-103), crossed into the Black Sea on 6 March to participate in long-planned exercises with Bulgaria and Romania. It was the only United States Navy vessel in the Black Sea besides the guided-missile frigate USS Taylor (FFG-50). American officials stated that it was part of a routine deployment for exercises with the Bulgarian and Romanian navies. The Truxtun left the Black Sea by 28 March, but some politicians argued that it should return as a show of support.

NATO

 * On 10 March, NATO began using Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS airborne radar aircraft to monitor Poland's and Lithuania's border with Kaliningrad. Monitoring also took place in Romania.


 * On 26 March, US and UK defense chiefs agreed to accelerate the development of the NATO missile defence system. Talks were "dominated" by the situation in Ukraine, but officials emphasized that this was not a response to Russian actions.

NATO foreign ministers did not rule out stationing troops in countries near Russia, saying that Russia had "gravely breached the trust upon which our cooperation must be based".

Suspension of military cooperation with Russia

 * As of 17 March, according to the semi-independent US military paper Stars and Stripes, the Atlas Vision exercise with Russia (planned for July) was cancelled. The Rapid Trident exercise in western Ukraine, scheduled for the same time, was to proceed as planned, as was the naval exercise See Breeze.

France suspended most military cooperation with Russia and considered halting the sale of two Mistral-class warships it had been contracted to build. Canada, the UK, and Norway all suspended cooperation to some extent. On 1 April, NATO suspended all military and civilian cooperation with Russia.

Expanded participation in Baltic Air Policing

 * On 17 March, UK officials announced they would send six Eurofighter Typhoons to augment the Polish Air Force's scheduled Baltic Air Policing rotation beginning in late April. The rotation lasts from 1 May through 31 August.


 * On 21 March, France announced it was ready to contribute four fighters to the patrol. Anonymous officials also mentioned the possibility of air support for Poland and AWACs stationed in Poland and Romania.


 * The next day, the Czech Republic offered to deploy fighter aircraft to interested countries bordering or near Ukraine.


 * On 27 March, Denmark announced plans to send six F-16 fighters to participate in the same rotation.


 * On 29 March, Germany announced its initial readiness to send up to six fighter planes and a naval vessel to monitor the Baltic area, though a final decision had not yet been reached.


 * Swedish, Lithuanian, and US aircraft took part in exercises over the Baltics in early April. The US was considering establishing a small but "continuous" military force in the Baltics to reassure its allies.

Belarus

 * Ukraine reported that Russian units in Belarus were participating in Russia's military exercises near the Ukrainian border.
 * On 13 March, Russia sent six Su-27 fighters and three military transport planes to participate in exercises in Belarus, in response to the exercises in Poland.
 * On 24 March, Viktor Bondarev, commander of the Russian Air Force, announced plans to station 24 Su-27 fighters in Baranovichi by the end of the year.

Turkey

 * On 7 March, the Turkish Air Force reported it scrambled six F-16 fighter jets after a Russian surveillance plane flew along Turkey's Black Sea coast. It was the second incident of its kind reported that week, with one occurring the day before on 6 March. The Russian plane remained in international airspace. Diplomatic sources revealed that Turkey has warned Russia that if it attacks Ukraine and its Crimean Tatar population, it would blockade Russian ships' passage to the Black Sea.

International diplomatic and economic responses
A number of countries condemned and expressed grave concerns over the Russian intervention in Ukraine. The UN Security Council held a special meeting at the weekend on the crisis. The G7 countries condemned the violation of Ukraine's sovereignty, and urged Russia to withdraw. All G7 leaders are refusing to participate in it due to assumed violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in contravention of Russia's obligations under the UN Charter and its 1997 basing agreement with Ukraine.

The United States raised the likelihood of sanctions against Russia unless they withdrew. United States President Barack Obama has put visa restrictions in place against "those responsible for or complicit in threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," and the United States State Department has announced its own plans to do the same. Canada recalled its ambassador from Russia. British Foreign Minister William Hague removed Britain from preparations for the upcoming G8 summit and said the UK would work with international partners to "ensure that reforms by Ukraine are matched by international willingness to provide economic support".

Financial markets
The intervention has caused turbulence on the financial markets. Many markets around the world fell slightly due to the threat of instability. The Swiss franc climbed to a 2-year high against the dollar and 1-year high against the Euro. The Euro and the US dollar both rose, as did the Australian dollar. The Russian stock market declined by more than 10 percent, whilst the Russian ruble hit an all time lows against the US dollar and the Euro. The Russian Central bank hiked interest rates and intervened in the foreign exchange markets to the tune of $12 billion to try to stabilize its currency. Prices for wheat and grain rose, with Ukraine being a major exporter of both crops.