Russia, West dig heels

Pro-Russian supporters take part in a rally in the center of Donetsk yesterday. Photo: AFP

Pro-Russian activists attacked supporters of Kiev's new leaders with clubs and whips as thousands rallied across Ukraine in rival demonstrations yesterday, while Russian President Vladimir Putin dug in his heels in the escalating standoff with the West.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a strong rebuke to the Russian strongman, telling him a planned Crimea referendum on joining the Russian Federation was "illegal" and bemoaning the lack of progress on creating an international diplomatic group to try to resolve the crisis.
In phone conversations with Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Putin in turn accused Ukraine's new leaders of failing to rein in "ultra-nationalist and radical forces".
He also defied Western condemnation of the March 16 referendum, saying the pro-Russian authorities in Crimea organising the vote were legitimate and acting "based on international law".

Photo taken on March 8, 2014 shows ships which the Ukrainian navy claims were deliberately sunk by Russia at the entrance to Lake Donuzlav, on the western Crimean coast, in order to block in Ukrainian navy ships which are based there. Photo: AFP

Separatist tensions were running high yesterday on the strategic Black Sea peninsula which is now under Moscow's de facto control.
In Sevastopol, pro-Moscow militants wearing balaclavas and bullet proof vests, joined by Cossacks wielding whips, attacked a small rally for Ukrainian unity.

Thousands of supporters of integration with Russia also seized regional government headquarters in the eastern city of Lugansk and hoisted a Russian flag outside a security service building in Donetsk.
In Kiev, Putin's top foe Mikahil Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oligarch who spent a decade in Russian prisons, blamed Russia for the bloodshed in Ukraine.
The rallies come after a new marathon round of phone calls by US President Barack Obama to his European allies seeking to defuse the standoff with Russia, with each side imposing sanctions or warning of further prohibitive measures to force the other to back down.
He spoke to French, British, Italian leaders and reaffirmed his support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the White House said. Obama also spoke to the leaders of former Soviet states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

A tractor makes pits next to a check point in Chongar. The half-a-metre wide pits are thought to be made for planting mines. Photo: AFP

A number of security incidents in Crimea point to the situation worsening, with Ukrainian border guards reporting the arrival by land and sea of 60 Russian military lorries on the rugged peninsula of two million people.
There were also Ukrainian troop movements from the west with 50 armoured personnel carriers seen rolling out of the city of Lviv on Saturday in what the defence ministry said were pre-planned exercises.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary William Hague yesterday said that Russia's incursion in Crimea is a "serious miscalculation" and Moscow could face far-reaching economic consequences unless a diplomatic solution can be found.
He also said the situation can get ugly and has the potential to sprung a full fledged conflict.