Obama: violation of Ukraine 'would be deeply destabilizing' – live updates

We’re going to close the blog for now but it will be re-opened to take in any significant developments.

Mikheil Saakashvili, president of Georgia at a time when that country fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008 over the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, has been pushing for the US to take punitive financial measures against Russia.

Saakashvili, a studio guest on CNN, said that it would be wrong to underestimate Ukraine’s military strength, adding that its officer corps was of a high calibre and that a “considerable chunk” of Russian officers were ethnically Ukrainian.

He added that “we might get real war between two big European countries” but called on the US to expell Russia from the G8 and “send tax inspectors” into banks where there was Russian interests.

In a hawkish appearance, he added:

If this order in Europe collapses, the US will be in trouble. If it goes to hell then certainly American interests will be at great risk.

Other than skipping the G8 and imposing trade and other sanctions, the extent of US leverage over Russia on Ukraine seems limited, according to Stephen Collinson, the AFP’s White House Correspondent. He adds on Twitter:

A senior administration official in Washington DC has said that the US is considering pulling out of this Summer’s G8 summit in Russia.

A US boycott of the June meeting would be a major blow to Putin, particularly if backed by European G8 members- the UK, Italy, Germany and France. The senior administration official told the Guardian’s Paul Lewis:

We are consulting with European partners and considering options.

It is hard to see how we and other European leaders would attend the G8 in Sochi if Russia is intervening in Ukraine.

From the United Nations, here’s something more specific in terms of an emerging US response to the crisis.

The US ambassador to the UN has told reporters that that her government is proposing an urgent mediation mission. Samantha Power said that the United States wants mediators who will be “seen as independent, credible”.

The Associated Press adds: 


She suggested U.N. official Robert Serry could be part of the mission. Serry was the Netherlands’ first ambassador to Ukraine.
 She also said that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had experts who would be seen as credible.


British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant later said that such a mediation mission would not require the blessing of the U.N. Security Council.

Russia has a council veto and could block action there.
 Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he opposed “imposed mediation.”

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The US ambassador in Kiev has tweeted this link to the full text of President Obama’s White House statement earlier this evening, in which he warned that “any violation of Ukrainian sovereignty would be deeply destabilizing.”

More from the Ukrainian authorities. The country’s defence ministry has said it had information that unknown “radical forces” were planning to try to disarm its military units in Crimea and warned against such action.

The ministry said in a statement on its Website:

In the case of such unknown actions, the Ukrainian armed forces will act in accordance with the laws of Ukraine and the regulations of the Ukrainian armed forces.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian border service has said that said eight Russian transport planes landed in Crimea Peninsula in southern Ukraine with unknown cargo.

Serhiy Astakhov told The Associated Press that the Il-76 planes arrived unexpectedly and were given permission to land, one after the other, at Gvardeiskoye air base, north of the regional capital, Simferopol (below).

Astakhov said the people in the planes refused to identify themselves and waved off customs officials, saying they didn’t require their services.

This is Ben Quinn taking over the blog now from Tom.

In a hastily called statement broadcast live, US president Barack Obama warned Russia that “there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine” and that “any violation of Ukrainian sovereignty would be deeply destabilizing.”

Obama said the United States was “deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian federation inside Ukraine.” So far US officials have not referred to specific activity.

“The US calls on Russia to pull back the military forces that are being built up in the region,” said US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power.

Armed militias whose precise identity was unknown remain in control of two airports in Crimea, while Russian troop transport vehicles and helicopters were photographed on the move in the region.

Russia denied that it was conducting or preparing to conduct a military intervention in Crimea. “Really, even the question is aggravating!” said the Russian ambassador to the UN. The Russian Black Sea fleet, resident in Sevastopol, said it was taking “anti-terror” measures.

“They’re provoking us into an armed conflict,” said Ukrainian acting president Oleksandr Turchynov. He said the Ukrainian military would not be baited. He called on Russian president Vladimir Putin to “stop provocations.”

Deposed president Viktor Yanukovych held a news conference in Russia. He said he was still the “legitimate president” and said elections scheduled by parliament for 25 May were a sham. He said Western powers “connived” to depose him.

Both the Russian foreign ministry and the Russian ambassador to the United Nations were pointing to the agreement of 21 February as the key to resolving the Ukraine crisis.

Guardian national security editor Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) notes a very non-response-like quality to a Pentagon response to questions about Ukraine. Spencer writes:

While Russian assertiveness in Crimea today is undeniable, in Washington, it’s become a matter of certifying if Russia has actually, directly and overtly moved its forces into the area. The Pentagon is publicly agnostic.

Air Force Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, a Pentagon spokesman, says US defense officials are monitoring what he calls “the situation in the Crimea.”

“We’re not prepared to offer an assessment or characterize this fluid situation,” Pickart said.

Perhaps the public stance is a matter of giving diplomacy a chance to reverse Russian gains. Perhaps it’s actual Pentagon confusion.

Both the Russian foreign ministry and the Russian ambassador to the United Nations are pointing to the agreement of 21 February as the key to resolving the Ukraine crisis.

“The best way to resolve the crisis is to look hard” at the agreement signed one week ago, said Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, in a news conference following the emergency security council meeting.

Churkin did not acknowledge that protesters in Kiev never accepted the agreement and that Yanukovych had fled the capital by last Friday night.

The Guardian’s Alan Yuhas (@AlanYuhas) listened to Churkin’s statement. He was asked about the upheaval of the last week. “[None of this] shouldn’t have started at all,” Churkin said:

Ukraine had a democratically elected president with a democratically elected majority in parliament. Yatsenyuk could’ve taken the post [of prime minister, offered during negotiations], and could’ve signed the agreement with the European Union if he wanted, but then they went for toppling the president and a regime-change operation.

Interference from our western colleagues has not been helpful, and they have certain responsibilities to those dramatic consequences and also responsibilities for not following through on those agreements they affixed their signatures on February 21.

The best way to resolve the crisis is to look hard at the February 21 agreement. They need to [reform] a constitution. they need to refrain from a hasty presidential election which is likely to cause more friction. They need to show that this is about national unity.

When asked about Russia’s willingness to intervene militarily, Churkin laughed.

“Really, even the question is aggravating!” he said.

Obama said that in conversations with Putin he had proposed a cooperation.

“I also spoke several days ago with president Putin,” Obama said, “and we’ve made clear that they can be part of an international effort to support the stability and success of a united Ukraine going forward.”

“Over the last several days, the United States has been responding to events as they unfold in Ukraine,” Obama said. Throughout this crisis, he said, the United States has consistently said that “the Ukrainian people must have the opportunity to determine” their own government.

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“We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian federation inside Ukraine,” Obama said.

He referred to reports without mentioning specific US intelligence.

“Russia has an historic relationship with the Ukraine,” Obama acknowledged, noting the Black Sea fleet post in Sevastopol.

However, Obama said, “any violation of Ukrainian sovereignty would be deeply destabilizing.”

“It would present a profound interference in matters that must be decided by the Ukrainian people,” he said, and “it would invite the condemnation of the international community.”

As for what action the United States might take:

“The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine.”

President Obama is speaking.

He says “any violation of Ukrainian sovereignty would be deeply destabilizing.”

“It would present a profound interference in matters that must be decided by the Ukrainian people,” he said.

The United States is “deeply concerned” by “facts on the ground” in Ukraine, US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said following an emergency meeting of the UN security council.

Power said the US is concerned “by what we see as the facts on the ground.” She says the United States is “gravely disturbed by reports of Russian military deployments into the Crimea” but did not mention specific US intelligence.

“The US calls on Russia to pull back the military forces that are being built up in the region,” she said.

“I’m not going to characterize the movements, beyond [to say] we are deeply concerned by these reports,” she said. Power said the United States had asked for Russia’s help on “getting Ukraine back onto a path to a brighter future.”

President Barack Obama will deliver a statement shortly on the situation in Ukraine, the White House has announced. The statement is to begin at 4.45pm ET, in about 10 minutes.

The Guardian’s Alan Yuhas (@AlanYuhas), working from two Russian

has translated the

(see previous

)

:

In an act of naked aggression against Ukraine, and under the pretense of military exercises, Russia has brought military forces into the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Not only have they seized Crimea’s parliament and Council, they’ve tried to take control of civilian facilities and communications, and tried to block the positions of Ukrainian forces.

“They are provoking us into an armed conflict. Based on our intelligence, they’re working on scenarios analogous to Abkhazia, in which they provoke conflict, and then they start to annex territory.

“Ukraine’s military will fulfill its duties, but will not succumb to provocation, and is not entering into armed conflict, understanding the high danger that this would expose to the civilian population of Crimea.

“I personally address President Putin with the demand that he immediately end this provocation and recall troops from Crimea, and that we work within the frames of existing agreements.

“In 1994 Ukraine unilaterally renounced nuclear weapons in exchange for a guarantee of its safety from the US, Russia and Great Britain. … The whole civilized world supports Ukraine.”

“We are trying to neutralize this provocation, we are trying to normalize the situation. We are sure that Ukraine will preserve its territory, Ukraine will defend its independence, and any attempt at annexation, invasion, will have very serious consequences.”

One Ukrainian official claimed late on Friday evening that 2,000 Russian troops had arrived in Crimea during the course of the day, in 13 Russian aircraft, Guardian Moscow correspondent Shaun Walker (@ShaunWalker7) reports.

Senior Ukrainian official Sergiy Kunitsyn told Crimea’s ATR television channel that Russian aircraft carrying the troops had landed at a military air base near Simferopol, AFP reported.

The recent US ambassador to Russia writes:

How much would you pay for a shooting range with a moving wild boar? According to a Ukrainian investigation into documents left at the deposed president’s residence, Yanukovych spent $115,000. The Associated Press has more on YanukovychLeaks.org:

Visitors to the YanukovychLeaks.org website can browse what appear to be the expense payments for running the sprawling compound just outside Kiev that reportedly was the Yanukovych’s home. The website had 1,581 documents online by Friday afternoon after attracting more than 300,000 visitors a day for several days this week.

“The recovered documents are being published on this website to make them available to journalists and citizens around the world,” the site said. “The investigations based on these documents will also be published here and in Ukrainian media.”

The documents include a payment of over $115,000 for a shooting range with a moving wild boar and $2.3 million for a tea room. Many other payments seem routine, such as money for roads and gardening, and $150 for tennis balls. There were payments to six cooks and three waiters.

Acting Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov is speaking in Kiev. He has accused Russia of aggression and called on president Vladimir Putin to “stop provocations.”

“They’re provoking us into an armed conflict,” Turchynov said, according to Gazeta. “Based on our sources, they’re working on scenarios that would be analogous to Abkhazia, when they provoke conflict, and then they start to annex territory.”

The “Abkhazian” line refers to Russia’s 2008 intervention in Georgia over the breakaway Akhazia region, which has a large ethnic Russian population.

BBC is live translating:

Mr Turchynov called on Russian President Putin to “stop provocations”, start negotiations and immediately “pull out” Russian troops.

Ukraine’s acting leader said that the “Ukrainian army is not responding” to the provocations in Crimea.

UPDATE: Guardian Moscow correspondent Shaun Walker has more from Turchynov:

I am personally addressing President Putin to stop the provocation and call back the military from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and work exclusively within the framework of the signed agreements.

Ukraine protested to Russia that it had violated its airspace and broken the terms of an agreement under which Moscow leases a base for its Black Sea fleet in Crimea, Reuters reports:

The Foreign Ministry gave no details but the Ukrainian border guard service said more than 10 Russian military helicopters had flown from Russia into Ukrainian airspace over the Crimea region.

See earlier reports about the helicopters here.

British foreign secretary William Hague announces plans to travel to Kiev Sunday.

Flights scheduled to depart Simferopol, via the BBC: Pink means cancelled.

The scene in Sevastopol: celebratory, Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem) reports for the Guardian:

Following today’s dramatic events the mood in the centre this evening was celebratory.

Hundreds of people gathered in a small park to dance to Russian pop music being blared over speakers at a stage with accompanying screen projections.

Military units took over airports and roads in Crimea Friday. Soldiers in unmarked uniforms took over the airports at Sevastopol and Simferopol. Russian armored personnel carriers and helicopters were sighted in the region.

The Russian Black Sea fleet, harbored at Sevastopol, said it was taking “anti-terror” measures to protect the fleet and associated outposts. Russia denied a broader deployment.

The United States warned Russia against an intervention in Ukraine. “It would be a grave mistake to intervene,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

The new leaders of the Ukrainian government said an intervention had already taken place, accusing Russia of carrying out an “armed invasion.” On Thursday an armed group took over the Crimean parliament and hoisted a Russian flag.

The U.N. Security Council was to hold private consultations today to discuss the crisis.

Deposed president Viktor Yanukovych held a news conference in Russia. He said he was still the “legitimate president” and said elections scheduled by parliament for 25 May were a sham. He said Western powers “connived” to depose him. [Corrects Yanukovych’s name.]

Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke separately with British prime minister David Cameron, German chancellor Angela Merkel and the European council president. Putin “stressed the need to avoid further escalation of violence and the necessity to quickly normalize the situation,” the Kremlin said.

The Russian foreign ministry has authorized the issuance of passports for members of the Berkut, the Ukrainian paramilitary force that acted in support of Yanukovych during the Independence Square protests.

This is worth a click-through. At the end of his Friday news conference, Yanukovich tried to break his pen in half. It gets away from him.

There are multiple reports that do not quite line up about the cancellation of at least some flights in and out of the Simferopol airport, which was seized overnight.

UPDATE: Some departing flights to international destinations have been cancelled.

Interfax news agency reported that the airport was no longer accepting flights from Kiev. Reuters has the report here. The Moscow correspondent for the Telegraph confirmed the closure to flights from Kiev.

Some reports have a broader closure of airspace around Simferopol. Ukrainian International, Ukraine’s biggest airline, told Reuters that the airspace over the Crimea region had been closed. And the head of security at Kiev airport told an ABC News correspondent that Simferopol airspace is closed – although it was unclear whether that meant closed to flights from any destination:

The web site for the airport is working only intermittently.

The United States is considering financial aid for Ukraine “which could complement the IMF package,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

“We welcome the news that the IMF will send a team to Ukraine,” Carney said. “We are considering a range of options, including loan guarantees.”

Ukraine has said it needs $35 billion over the next two years. EU officials have estimated Ukraine’s short-term needs at around $4 billion.

Separately, US Senator Chris Murphy, chairman of a Senate subcommittee on European Affairs, said an aid package for Ukraine would be part of “a broader, coordinated program” with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and other international partners, Reuters reports:

“I encourage the new government to implement the necessary economic reforms to stabilize the economy and set Ukraine on a path to prosperity, including rooting out corruption and increasing transparency in government finances,” the Connecticut Democrat said in a statement.

“Ukraine’s leading industrialists might also consider how they can play a helpful role in stabilizing the economy,” Murphy said.

Also, a team of financial experts from the European Commission planned to travel to Ukraine on Monday to assess exactly how much financial assistance it needs, EU officials said on Friday, according to Reuters:

The team from the Commission’s directorate-general for economic and financial affairs is expected to meet Ukrainian finance ministry and central bank officials to determine what the country’s budget shortfall and capital needs are.

“The first thing we need to do is to understand precisely how much they need,” said a senior official briefed on the visit. “There are a lot of numbers being thrown around and it isn’t helping to clarify the situation.”

Finally, the EU’s trade chief said on Friday that Ukraine would see the economic benefits of a free-trade deal with the European Union within weeks of signing the accord, Reuters reports:

Despite the upheaval since pro-EU Ukrainians drove the Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovich from power, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told Reuters that Brussels’ offer of a comprehensive trade deal was Ukraine’s for the taking.

“The offer stands, that’s very clear. We are ready to sign when Ukraine is ready to sign,” De Gucht said in an interview following a meeting of EU trade ministers in Athens. “The benefits will be seen a couple of weeks after the signature.”

The United States is watching “very closely” “whether Russia might be crossing the line in any way, the intervention line,” White House spokesman Jay Carney says at his daily briefing.

“Ukraine territorial integrity needs to be respected,” Carney said. “Ukrainian sovereignty needs to be respected. And it would be a grave mistake to intervene.”

“We are concerned about reports of Russian intervention or of aggression,” Carney says. “We evaluate this... in a variety of ways,” in partnership with allies and in direct communications with Ukrainian and Russian officials, he says.

“Obviously there are various conversations happening in real time with regard to this very fluid situation.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Putin in their call Friday that steps toward escalation must be avoided, her spokesman said. “She also urged restraint over Crimea,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement quoted by Reuters.

Merkel on Friday also called Ukraine’s new Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk to pledge her support.

The U.N. Security Council will hold private consultations on Friday to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, according to the Associated Press:

U.N spokesman Martin Nesirky said the council had scheduled a meeting Friday afternoon. [...]

However, any action by the Security Council is highly unlikely because Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member and can block any action.

The Russian foreign ministry has authorized the issuance of passports for members of the Berkut, the Ukrainian paramilitary force that acted in support of Yanukovych during the Independence Square protests, according to the ministry’s Facebook page and the ministry web site.

The editor of Russia Today tweeted a welcome message to the Berkut: “Dear Berkut, welcome, you don’t know how glad we are to see you.” It ends with an offer to tea.

All estimated 4,000 members of the force would be eligible for passports, a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson told BuzzFeed. There was no explanation for the move. Moscow distributed passports in advance of its 2008 invasion of Georgia, in part under the pretext of protecting Russians.

A line in the statement from Downing Street on David Cameron’s conversation with Vladimir Putin could indicate potential daylight between Putin and Yanukovych on the topic of the Ukrainian election schedule.

At his news conference, Yanukovych said he would not take part in elections scheduled for 25 May by Ukraine’s parliament because they were illegitimate and he was still the president.

The Downing Street statement says Cameron and Putin “agreed that the free and fair elections that the interim government has pledged to hold are the best way to secure a positive future for Ukraine in which all Ukrainian people are represented.”

A contingent of four leaders from

Central Europe is in Kiev to meet with the new Ukrainian government and pledge support, the Associated Press reports:

In a trip coordinated with the European Union, the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia and deputy Foreign Minister of Poland met Friday in Kiev with Ukraine’s new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchitsya.

In a statement, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said they told their Ukrainian counterpart that they were there to “support the government which was just created.”

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The Visegrad Group (V4) consists of Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

Associated Press journalists in Crimea have spotted a convoy of nine Russian armored personnel carriers and a truck on a road between the port city of Sevastopol and the regional capital, Sinferopol, the news agency reports:

The Russian tricolor flags were painted on the vehicles, which were parked on the side of the road near the town of Bakhchisarai, apparently because one of them had mechanical problems.

Russia is supposed to notify Ukraine of any troop movements outside the naval base it maintains in Sevastopol under a lease agreement with Ukraine.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry said movements of armored vehicles belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet were prompted by the need to ensure security of its base and didn’t contradict the lease terms.

A duty officer at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it had no information about the vehicles’ movements.

We’re gathering further details about the calls between Europe and Putin. British prime minister David Cameron called Putin and said that Russia must respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesman said. Reuters reports:

“The Prime Minister emphasised that all countries should respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. President Putin agreed, stressing that Russian military exercises in the area had been planned before the current situation in Ukraine,” the spokesman said.

“They agreed that the free and fair elections that the interim government has pledged to hold are the best way to secure a positive future for Ukraine.”

Cameron and Putin agreed the international community should consider how to help Ukraine tackle its economic challenges, the spokesman said.

“Moscow’s military moves so far resemble a classically executed coup,” writes former Guardian Moscow correspondent Luke Harding: “seize control of strategic infrastructure, seal the borders between Crimea and the rest of Ukraine, invoke the need to protect the peninsula’s ethnic Russian majority...

The Kremlin’s favourite news website, Lifenews.ru, was on hand to record the historic moment. Its journalists were allowed to video Russian forces patrolling ostentatiously outside Simferopol airport.

Wearing khaki uniforms – they had removed their insignia – and carrying Kalashnikovs, the soldiers seemed relaxed and in control. Other journalists filming from the road captured Russian helicopters flying into Crimea from the east. They passed truckloads of Russian reinforcements arriving from Sevastopol, home to Russia‘s Black Sea fleet.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in this very Crimean coup. But Putin’s playbook in the coming days and months is easy to predict. On Thursday, the Crimean parliament announced it would hold a referendum on the peninsula’s future status on 25 May. That is the same day Ukraine goes to the polls in fresh presidential elections.

The referendum can have only one outcome: a vote to secede from Ukraine. After that, Crimea can go one of two ways. It could formally join the Russian Federation. Or, more probably, it might become a sort of giant version of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, Georgia’s two Russian-occupied breakaway republics – a Kremlin-controlled puppet exclave, with its own local administration, “protected” by Russian troops and naval frigates. Either way, this amounts to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, de facto or de jure.

Read the full piece here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken by phone with the leaders of Britain and Germany and the president of the European Council, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Putin said there must be no further escalation of violence in Ukraine, according to a Reuters report on the Kremlin statement.

UPDATE: The Kremlin statement, in Russian, is here. Putin “strongly stressed the need to avoid further escalation of violence and the necessity to quickly normalize the situation,” the statement says.

In a phone conversation, US secretary of state John Kerry asked Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov about reports of Russian armored vehicles and personnel in Crimea, and warned Russia not to inflame the situation in Ukraine, Reuters reports:

“We raised the issue of the airports, raised the issue of armored vehicles, raised the issue of personnel in various places,” Kerry said of a telephone conversation 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.”

Guardian Moscow correspondent Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) has filed a news story on Yanukovych’s press conference. “I think Russia should, and is obliged, to act, and knowing the character of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, I am surprised he is so restrained and keeping silent,” Yanukovych said.

“Putin has not commented on the situation in recent days,” Shaun writes, “but the interim Ukrainian government has claimed Russian troops have effectively invaded Crimea”:

Yanukovych said he had not met with Putin but the pair had spoken by telephone and the Russian president had agreed to meet him “when he has the possibility”.

“As the current president of Ukraine, I want to say that Crimea should stay within the boundaries of Ukraine,” he said, adding that events in the peninsula – where gunmen seized control of two airports and raised the Russian flag above the regional parliament – were “a natural reaction to the bandit coup in Kiev”.

He said he believed there should be no military activity in Crimea, but insisted Russia should not “sit in the corner and not act”.

Yanukovych said elections scheduled for May by Ukraine’s parliament were illegitimate and he is still the president:

“If a president hasn’t resigned, if he hasn’t been impeached, and if he is alive – and you see that I am alive – then he remains the president,” Yanukovych said, dodging a question about how he could possibly act further when even his closest allies had deserted him.

He was unable to say when he planned to return to the country, except that it would happen “as soon as the conditions allow for my own safety and the safety of my family.”

Read the full piece here.

Deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych held a news conference in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don in which he said “I am the legitimate president of Ukraine.”

Yanukovych said Western powers had “connived with the EuroMaidan forces” in Kiev and that the protesters had failed to honor an agreement forged by European envoys last week. He said he left the country because he had been shot at and he feared for his and his family’s safety.

Military troops in unmarked uniforms resembling Russian uniforms took over two airports in Crimea, Simferopol airport and a military facility at Sevastopol, overnight. Simferopol airport appeared to be operating as normal.

The new leaders of the Ukrainian government accused Russia of carrying out an “armed invasion.” Russia’s Black Sea fleet, based at Sevastopol, issued a statement both denying military action and saying “anti-terror units” had been deployed to protect the fleet and living quarters.

Reporters witnessed a tense stand off between at least 20 men wearing the uniform of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and carrying automatic rifles and Ukrainian border guards near Sevastopol. No casualties were reported.

The Ukrainian border guard service said that more than 10 Russian military helicopters flew from Russia into Ukrainian airspace over the Crimea region on Friday.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement Friday that any movements of Russian military in the area were compliant with laws and treaties.

Yanukovych’s message was not universally well-received.

One more detail from Yanukovich’s presser: Asked by a Russian media outlet about the luxuriant wealth on display in his home, Yanukovych said not all the belongings were narrowly his and some were faked or staged:

UPDATE: Guardian Moscow correspondent Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) has more on Yanukovych’s answer:

When finally asked a direct question about the overstated luxury of the enormous estate, he laughed and said he was the legal owner and had began to renovate it. “I paid for that house with my own money, I paid $3.2m for that house,” he said with a smile, before launching on a long and rambling history of the estate.

Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem), reporting for the Guardian in Crimea, has more from Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the far-right Liberal and Democratic Party of Russia, who has arrived in Sevastopol and delivered a speech outside a city administration building. (Read Harriet’s earlier report here.)

“Peoples’ lives are the most important,” Zhirinovsky said:

[We] don’t want anyone to die, Ukrainians or Russian. We stand here, but already 80 people have died. The deaths in Simferopol were not for political reasons but because emotion put people in the way.

We do not accept the new government not because of politics but legally. You cannot just break the constitution. The legal procedures were not followed . The leader of Ukraine is Yanukovych, he is in Russia, but nobody made him leave. He has a right to be here. He fled because he does not have safety in Ukraine. People keep referring to the Budapest Agreement of 1994, of the safety of Ukraine. So now let’s follow this agreement. The safety of the president is not being followed.

“I want you to know the position of Moscow is that you will not be left alone or be in trouble.

“Everyone is afraid of Russia. We have the most modern weapons, the most impressive. This is why Russia is feared by every country.”

Zhirinovsky doubled down on his promise of gas and loans for Crimea, Harriet reports:

Crimea and Sevastopol will get whatever they need. There is money. This will be a present from me. A bank loan that does not need to be paid back. Gas will be made available at the lowest prices. Free if you need it. You will all have a TV in your home and more consular services, all over Ukraine, but especially in Sevastopol.”

The crowd cheered and clapped, Harriet reports, chanting “Russia, Russia, Russia.”

A Reuters journalist has witnessed a tense stand off between at least 20 men wearing the uniform of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and carrying automatic rifles and Ukrainian border guards near Sevastopol. This appears to be the incident reported by AP earlier. From Reuters:

A Reuters reporter in the Balaklava district saw Ukrainian border police in helmets and riot gear shut inside the border post, with a metal gate pulled shut and metal riot shields placed behind the windows as protection.

A servicemen who identified himself as an officer of the Black Sea Fleet told Reuters: “We are here ... so as not to have a repeat of the Maidan.”

He was referring to Kiev’s Independence Square, the cradle of a popular uprising that ousted President Viktor Yanukovich.

The servicemen’s presence appeared to confirm the veracity of a statement by the Ukrainian border guard service that Russian servicemen were blocking off a unit of Ukrainian border guards in Balaklava.

The Guardian has a gallery of images from Crimea today, including this one.

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While that press conference was going on, Russia denied violating an agreement on the movement of its troops in Ukraine’s Crimea region and said that it considers events there the result of internal political differences.

The foreign ministry said in a statement it rejected a call for consultations on Crimea with the Ukrainian leadership, describing events there as “as a result of internal political processes in Ukraine”.

Yanukovych is asked about the possibility of a case against him in the Hague. He says there has to be an independent investigation involving the Council of Europe.

There was not a single person who was more interested in avoiding bloodshed than myself.

Asked about whether Russia considers him the legitimate president of Ukraine, he says:

I repeat, I am the legitimate president of Ukraine.

He says it is not for him to say what Russia should do but “it can not be indifferent to the destiny of such a big partner as Ukraine”. It needs to use all the leverage it can to prevent “the chaos, the terror unfolding in Ukraine”. He says he would not encourage any attempt at intervention.

With that the press conference is being wound up.

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Yanukovych says he never gave any order to fire but “the police has a right to self-defence, especially when there have been massive attacks on the police.

Asked about Ukraine’s former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been released from prison, Yanukovych says it is “an issue that needs to be considered from a legal standpoint”.

“I’m the legitimate president,” says Yanukovych.

He did not resign, was not impeached and is still alive so is still the incumbent and legitimate president.

Yanukovych says he was “cynically deceived” when signing the agreement with the opposition.

Asked about divisions in his political party, he says “let God judge them, judge their behaviour in their times”. He does not condemn people who were “forced to take these steps because they were threatened with weapons”.

The United States connived with the Maidan opposition forces, they bear the responsibility to the Ukrainian people.

Asked if he will take part in the May presidential elections - a moot point as it is highly unlikely at present that he would be allowed to take part - he says he will not as they are illegal.

The responsibility for implementing the agreement struck just before he left Kiev rests with the west, says Yanukovych.

Asked about the freezing of his assets, his son and others and the criminal proceedings issued against him in Switzerland, Yanukovych ignores the question, instead calling for an end to lawlessness in Kiev.

Yanukovych says any military actions in Crimea are “unacceptable”. He says he won’t request any military assistance from Russia. “Ukraine needs to be united.”

He says he will return to Ukraine when his security and that of his family have been assured.

The ousted president said he arrived in Russia “thanks to the patriotically-minded officers”.

He has not met President Putin yet but spoke to him on the phone and they agreed to meet when there is an opportunity.

Yanukovych says he is in Rostov, rather than Moscow, because an old friend lives there.

He goes on:

Everything happening in Crimea today is a natural result of the bandits’ regime change that took place in Kiev ...of course I sympathise with what is happening today, the formation of self-defence militia units. They want to defend themselves ...that is natural.

He urges people to avoid any conflict.

Crimea needs to stay part of Ukraine, of course by maintaining a broad autonomy.

Yanukovych is asked whether he feels ashamed for anything.

He apologises that he “did not have enough strength to maintain stability” and prevent the crisis.

Yanukovych denies that he fled initially but says he was exposed to gunfire from automatic weapons when in a car.

He was supposed to take part in a conference with party members in Kharkov but when he arrived he heard that radical groups were arriving in Kharkov.

The ousted president says he was not in fear but “had to maintain the security conditions”.

Eventually he went to Crimea and his intentions were ruined by “new threats”. Even his youngest grandchild was “put on a blacklist”, he says.

Yanukovych says he could not risk the lives of his family.

Yanukovych says the agreement to bring an end to the crisis had to be agreed by both sides and he believed in “the bona fide character of the [international] intermediaries”.

He said under the agreement the protesters were supposed to hand over their weapons and unblock the streets but that did not happen.

Instead innocent people suffered, he says. They were robbed and beaten in the streets and cultural institutions and churches were destroyed.

This is lawlessnesses, terror, anarchy and chaos, complete absence of power.

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Yanukovych says there should be constitutional reform by the end of the year, presidential elections in December and then a new constitution should be adopted.

Arms need to be handed over, armed gunmen need to leave the streets and buildings and squares “unblocked”.

He says the west “connived with the EuroMaidan forces” and must bear responsibility for what has happened there.

He’s now stopped speaking but is taking questions.

Yanukovych begins by saying it is high time for him to announce his decision “to fight for the future of Ukraine against those who use fear and power”.

He says he was forced to leave Ukraine because of the threat to his life and his relatives’ life.

Ukraine has been taken over by fascists, representing a minority of the Ukrainian people, he says.

Viktor Yanukovych is due to begin his press conference, from southern Russia according to Russia Today, shortly. Here is a live feed.

Ukraine’s state border guard service says about 30 Russian marines had taken positions outside its coastguard base in Sevastopol, AP reports.

The agency quoted the marines from the 810th brigade of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet as saying they were there to prevent any weapons at the base from being seized by extremists.
In Moscow, the defence ministry had no comment.

Andriy Paruby, Ukraine’s top security official, has accused the Kremlin on Friday of commanding armed groups in Crimea. Commenting on the alleged take over of two airports, the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council told a televised briefing in Kiev:

These are separate groups ... commanded by the Kremlin.

He claimed similar actions had been prevented elsewhere in Ukraine, adding that Ukraine could not deploy military forces in Crimea without introducing a state of emergency.

The Ukrainian border guard service said that more than 10 Russian military helicopters flew from Russia into Ukrainian airspace over the Crimea region on Friday. Earlier video footage emerged purporting to be of Russian helicopters near Sevestopol.

The guard service also said in a statement that Russian servicemen were blocking off a unit of Ukrainian border guards in Sevastopol, where part of the Russian Black Sea fleet is based.

The European Commission has called for a political solution to tensions in Crimea and urged all sides to show restraint. A spokesman said:

The situation in Crimea will require a political solution and this can only be achieved via dialogue amongst the different parties involved. We want all relevant actors, all parties to be as moderate and restrained as possible ... and to respect the integrity and unity of Ukraine.

My colleague Paul Owen provides this summary of events so far today:

Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out an “armed invasion” after men in military uniform seized Simferopol airport in the largely pro-Russian Crimea region of the country. Reporters at the airport have pointed out similarities with the new Russian army uniform. The airport seems to be running normally.

Russian forces have also blocked Sevastopol military airport, also in Crimea, Ukraine’s new interim government has claimed. But Russia’s Black Sea fleet, which is based in Sevastapol, has denied it has taken action at Sevastopol. However, it said it had stepped up measures by its “anti-terror units” to protect areas where parts of the fleet are located. The airport seizures come the day after pro-Russian gunmen took over the Crimean parliament.

Ukraine’s parliament is asking the UN security council to call a session to consider the country’s current problems. It has also urged Russia to stop moves which it says undermine Ukrainian territorial integrity.

Ukraine’s acting president Oleksandr Turchynov has dismissed the chief of staff of the armed forces Yuri Illyin, who was only appointed to the post by the since ousted president Viktor Yanukovych last week.

Ukraine’s prosecutor has said it will ask Russia to extradite former president Viktor Yanukovych, who is wanted for alleged “mass murder”, if it is confirmed he is in Russia. Yanukovych is to give a press conference from an undisclosed location in Russia at 1pm GMT.

Switzerland, Austria and Lichenstien are all freezing assets of the former Ukrainian government. Only Switzerland named the individuals affected, who included among them ousted Yanukovych and his son Oleksander. Switzerland’s chief prosecutor has also opened a money laundering investigation into Yanukovych and and his son,

The leader of Russia’s far-right party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, is in Crimea and on his way to Sevastopol. The controversial Zhirinovsky, who is deputy speaker state Duma speaker said Russia could help south-east Ukraine by providing fuel.

Switzerland and Austria have both announced they are freezing the account of a number of Ukrainians who were involved in the regime that was ousted last week.

The Swiss government ordered the freezing of the assets of 20 Ukrainians, including ousted president Viktor Yanukoviych and his son Oleksander, Switzerland’s financial markets authority FINMA said in a statement.

The Austrian foreign ministry said in a statement:

Austria has decided to freeze possible bank accounts and assets of 18 Ukrainian citizens in Austria. This has been done on the basis of an official request by the Ukrainian foreign ministry.

It did not identify the people affected or say how much wealth was seized.

A Swiss prosecutor has also opened a money laundering investigation into Yanukovych and and his son Oleksander,

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Some gunmen have left Simferopol airport but others remain.

Reporters at the airport are also pointing out similarities with the new Russian army uniform.

Harriet Salem, in Crimea, just ran into Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a controversy-attracting Russian politician, who is leader of the far-right Liberal Democratic party and deputy state Duma speaker. He turned up at the roadblock between Simferopol and Sevastopol and said he was headed to Sevastopol. He said:

Russia will help the economic situation in the south-east. We can provide fuel and gas at a cheap price. The [military] manoeuvres in Russia were normal, they were nothing special. Crimea should decide its future for itself. We Russians don’t want to create the impression we will ‘take’ Crimea. Yanukovych is the lawful president by the constitution and the only one who can sign a decree.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s prosecutor has said it will ask Russia to extradite Viktor Yanukovych, who is wanted for alleged “mass murder”, if it is confirmed he is in Russia.

Need I say that it is highly unlikely Russia will comply.

As we wait to hear from ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who is due to give a press conference from Russia at 1pm GMT, a Swiss prosecutor has opened a money laundering investigation into him and and his son Oleksander, Reuters reports.

A statement from the prosecutor’s office in Geneva said:

A penal investigation for severe money laundering is currently being conducted in Geneva against Viktor Yanukovich and his son Oleksander.

It said prosecutor Yves Bertossa and the police had searched the office of a company owned by Oleksander Yanukovych on Thursday morning and seized some documents.

Switzerland yesterday it would order banks to freeze any funds in Swiss banks found to be linked any Yanukovych funds.

Ukraine’s acting president Oleksandr Turchynov has dismissed the chief of staff of the armed forces Yuri Illyin, who was only appointed to the post by the since ousted president Viktor Yanukovych last week.

No reason was given for his dismissal in a brief statement on the presidential website.

Interfax Ukraine reports that Turchynov has also dismissed Volodymyr Sivkovych as deputy secretary of the national security and defence council.

This video purportedly shows a group of military helicopters flying towards Sevastopol airport today. Refat Chubarov, the leader of the Crimean Tartars, who support the new government in Ukraine, claimed they came from Russia.

The Guardian cannot independently verify this footage.

The ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, wanted for alleged “mass murder” in Ukraine, is giving a press conference from Russia later, from a secret location.

Harriet Salem, reporting for the Guardian, has been to Sevastopol airport. She told me:

On the road between Sevastopol and Simferopol there was a roadblock but they were letting most people through with Crimean number plates. A sign at the roadblock read “People who live by the sword…” but the second half was missing

A man at Sevastopol airport, who said he was a captain in the tactical aviation brigade in Sevastopol but declined to give his name, told the Guardian there were about 300 people of unknown identity inside the airport but he said, without elaborating: “We don’t consider it any invasion of our territory.”

He said the men looked like military, were wearing two different types of uniform, and were armed with sniper rifles and AK-47s. “We don’t know who they are, nor where they’ve come from” he said He also said that there were two Kamaz (a manufacturer of trucks) vehicles inside. “They [the vehicles] looked like they could contain 50 people at a push so how they got 300 people inside, I don’t know,” he said

Major Fidorenko from the Ukrainian military at the base at the airport said they’d been in touch with the unknown gunmen who said they were there “to prevent unwanted landings of helicopters and planes”.

There were reports earlier that the gunmen at Simferopol wanted to stop Ukraine’s new interior minister Arsen Avakov and Ukrainian security council head Valentyn Nalyvaichenko from arriving in Crimea.

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In response to a question on Twitter, the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoff Pyatt, has said Russia and Europe have “a shared interest in a stable Ukraine”.

The UK foreign office has updated its travel advice for Ukraine, warning British nationals not to try to leave from Simferopol airport “until the situation becomes clearer”.

It says:

Armed men are reported to have seized Simferopol airport early on 28 February. Although the airport is reportedly operating as usual, we do not advise British nationals to try to leave from there until the situation becomes clearer. Sevastopol (Belbek) airport is also reported to be blocked by military and flights are not operating.

As fears grow over Ukraine separating, Russian MPs have said that they plan to submit a bill to parliament that would make it easier for new territories to join the Russian Federation.

Mikhail Yemelyanov, a leader of the A Just Russia party, cited the “unpredictable” situation in Ukraine as the reason behind the move, which would allow a territory would be able to join the Russian Federation on the basis of a referendum or a decision of its parliament.

A referendum has been proposed in Crimea to determine the future of the autonomous republic.

Radio Free Europe says that Russia’s “Kommersant” currently requires “the mutual consent of the Russian Federation and this foreign state,” confirmed by an international treaty.

Ukraine’s parliament is asking the UN security council to call a session to consider the country’s current problems. It has also urged Russia to stop moves which it says undermine Ukrainian territorial integrity.

More on the response from Russia’s Black Sea fleet to accusations that it has taken over or blocked the military airport near Sevastopol. In a statement, it said:

No units of the Black Sea fleet were deployed in the area of Belbek nor did they take place in blockading it.

But it said it had stepped up measures by its “anti-terror units” to protect areas where parts of the fleet were located in Crimea and the living quarters of service personnel and families “given the unstable situation”.

Ukraine’s acting president Oleksandr Turchynov has called an emergency session of his security chiefs on the events in Crimea and has accused Russian forces of involvement in “escalation” of the situation there.

Ukraine’s economy minister Pavlo Sheremeta told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme what was happening in Crimea was “absolutely unacceptable”. Asked about the possible use of force in Crimea, he said:

At the moment I do not see any discussion of using the force but ....if we need to use the force to protect the territorial integrity of the country - we would rather avoid it, of course - but the integrity of the country will be kept for sure.

He said “the first option is communication” and that the Ukrainian government was already talking to its Russian counterpart.

Russia’s Black Sea fleet says its forces have not seized or taken any action at the airport near Sevastopol, close to its naval base, Interfax is reporting.

The chairman of Russia’s state Duma, Sergey Naryshkin, has proposed asking the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters, to assess the legitimacy of Ukraine’s new government, Interfax Russia is reporting.

Both Ukraine and Russia are members of the 47-nation Council of Europe.

Despite the actions by gunmen at Simferopol airport, the airport is running normally, a spokesman has told Interfax Ukraine.

The airport’s departure board is listing two flights - to Kiev and Moscow - as having departed this morning with the gate closed for another flight to Kiev, although it appears to be somewhat delayed, having been scheduled to leave at 7.20am local time this morning.

The Interfax Ukraine report says:

Some reports suggest that these people came to the airport because they thought that an airplane carrying some protest forces had landed there. Other theories indicate that they wanted to stop Ukraine’s new interior minister Arsen Avakov and Ukrainian security council head Valentyn Nalyvaichenko from arriving in Crimea.

What is the Russian foreign ministry’s response to the accusations levelled by the Ukrainian interior minister about the takeover of two airports in Crimea?

A soldier at Simferopol has reportedly confirmed that the gunmen who have taken over the airport are Russian.

Fears of conflict in Crimea have intensified after Ukraine accused Russia of taking over two airports there, the day after gunmen seized the local parliament buildings. Here is a summary of the latest developments:

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Russian forces have taken over two airports in Crimea, accusing them of “an armed invasion and occupation in violation of all international agreements and norms”.

About 50 armed men in military uniform, without signs of identification, took over Simferopol airport in the early hours of Friday. Interfax Ukraine reported that a group of people with Russian navy ensigns also gathered at the airport’s building.

Armed men, described by Avakov as Russian naval forces, have also taken over a military airport near the port of Sevastopol where the Russian Black Sea fleet has a base.

The airport seizures come the day after pro-Russian gunmen took over the Crimean parliament.

Russia has continued military drills in the west of the country and said more than 80 helicopters More than were being re-deployed to emergency airfields. A Russian defence ministry spokesman told Interfax the move was “part of a continuing inspection of the combat readiness of forces deployed in the western and central military districts.