Ukraine, Russia on war footing

People attend a rally to protest Russia's stance in the Ukraine crisis, on Kiev's Independence square, yesterday. Photo: AFP

Ukraine's new leaders accused neighbor Russia of declaring war, as Kiev mobilised troops and called up military reservists in a rapidly escalating crisis that has raised fears of a conflict.
Amid signs of Russian military intervention in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, Russian generals led their troops to three bases in the region yesterday, demanding Ukrainian forces surrender and hand over their weapons, Vladislav Seleznyov, spokesman for the Crimean Media Center of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, told CNN.
Speaking by phone, he said Russian troops had blocked access to the bases, but added, "There is no open confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian military forces in Crimea" and said Ukrainian troops continue to protect and serve Ukraine.

"This is a red alert. This is not a threat. This is actually a declaration of war to my country," Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.
Speaking in a televised address from the parliament building in the capital, Kiev, he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "pull back his military and stick to the international obligations."
"We are on the brink of the disaster."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's navy chief yesterday announced he had switched allegiance to the pro-Russian authorities of the flashpoint peninsula of Crimea, a day after he was appointed to the post by interim leader Oleksandr Turchynov.
The seismic declaration came as the Kiev authorities appeared to be losing control of the Russian-speaking Crimea peninsula. Pro-Moscow gunmen intensified their grip on large swathes of the rugged flashpoint peninsula that has housed Russian navies since the 18th century.
At a Ukrainian parliamentary meeting yesterday, acting Defense Minister Ihor Tenyuh said Ukraine does not have the military force to resist Russia, according to two parliamentary members present at the session. Tenyuh called for talks to resolve the crisis with Russia, they said.
A sense of escalating crisis in Crimea -- an autonomous region of eastern Ukraine with strong loyalty to neighboring Russia -- swirled with US Secretary of State John Kerry condemning what he called Russia's "incredible act of aggression."
Speaking on the CBS program "Face The Nation," Kerry said several foreign powers are looking at economic consequences if Russia does not withdraw its forces.
In Brussels, Belgium, Nato ambassadors held an emergency meeting on Ukraine.
However, diplomats said little more than a statement of concern was expected from the talks and one senior diplomat said on condition of anonymity that neither economic sanctions nor Nato action seemed appropriate at the moment.
Ukraine, a nation of 45 million people sandwiched between Europe and Russia's southwestern border, has been plunged into chaos since the ouster a week ago of President Viktor Yanukovych following bloody street protests that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded.
Anti-government protests started in late November when Yanukovych spurned a deal with the EU, favoring closer ties with Moscow instead.
Ukraine has faced a deepening split, with those in the west generally supporting the interim government and its European Union tilt, while many in the east prefer a Ukraine where Russia casts a long shadow. Nowhere is that feeling more intense than in Crimea. 58 percent of the 2,033,000 residents of Crimea identified themselves as Russian in a 2001 census.
Ukrainian leaders and commentators have compared events in Crimea to what happened in Georgia in 2008. Then, cross-border tensions with Russia exploded into a five-day conflict that saw Russian tanks and troops pour into the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as Georgian cities. Russia and Georgia each blamed the other for starting the conflict.
These scenes come one day after Putin obtained permission from his parliament to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine, spurning Western pleas not to intervene.