The Ukrainian government accused Russia of an “armed invasion” of Crimea on Friday. Unidentified armed soldiers were patrolling outside the main airport on Friday.
The Telegraph reported:
Ukraine accused Russia of staging an “armed invasion” of Crimea on Friday as the ex-Soviet state’s ousted leader prepared to emerge defiant from five days of hiding after winning protection from Moscow.
Unidentified armed men were patrolling outside of Crimea’s main airport early Friday while gunmen were also reported to have seized another airfield on the southwest of the peninsula where ethnic Russians are a majority and where pro-Moscow sentiment runs high.
The Telegraph at 12.20 It seems Ukraine authorities have regained control of both Crimea airports.
“There was an attempt to seize the airports, but we have localised those attempts. The airports are now controlled by Ukrainian law enforcement authorities,” said Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council chief Andriy Parubiy.
He said that people who had tried to seize the airports were now manning roadblocks near the airports.
Meanwhile, the fugitive president Yanukovych emerged. He said in a news conference that he had not seen Putin yet but did speak with him on the phone.