By Jaime Ortega.
Once again Crimea felt the Russian army running across the border three days before the referendum that can deliver the peninsula to the Russians. On Wednesday the Russian government had denied any military buildup along the neighboring country. But finally yesterday the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged new military operations in several regions bordering the Ukrainian border. These ‘ war games ‘ employed Russian armored and airborne troops in the regions of Belgorod , Kursk and Rostov were defined by Russians as intensive training of artillery units, helicopters and at least 10,000 soldiers.
The new Russian drill comes after NATO announced its own fighter deployment in countries bordering Ukraine to the west. Also the Ukrainian army has mobilized maneuvers in various parts of the country, although the Kiev government has ruled out military intervention in Crimea, where unmarked troops have taken several Ukrainian bases and have besieged others. The mysterious soldiers are Russians, but Moscow has refused to recognize and has even warned that it reserves the right to resort to the use of military force in Crimea if the ethnic Russian population in the peninsula is threatened.
The announcement confirms what the Russians Ukrainians leadership fears. The first suspicions came through photographs showing columns of military vehicles in a border town called Lopan , less than an hour’s drive from the Ukrainian city of Kharkov . According to these sources , about 1,500 paratroopers have jumped the Russian Ivanovo military base in Rostov . The maneuvers will last two weeks, according to the Defense Ministry explained on its website , which stands at more than 8,500 soldiers involved .
According to the Ukrainians, the Russians have accumulated 80,000 men on the border with Ukraine in recent weeks . Since late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered exercises at a large-scale military near the border with Ukraine.
Although the Crimea reigns defensiveness to the next steps of the new government in Kiev, which to date has compromised is military control of Ukrainians on the peninsula , where the Russians do not stop winning positions. Yesterday the commander of a Ukrainian core surrounded by the Russian military did a desperate call to his superiors to give him instructions to shoot. As reported by AFP , Yuliy Mamchur , is commanding the airbase on Belbek , who issued a desperate call in a videotaped speech that was broadcast on Ukrainian television: ” To avoid armed confrontations , I ask you to tell us what possible measurement can we take if their families are threatened , “he said before warning that” if you do not take a decision according to our armed forces condition, including opening fire if necessary . ”
Mamchur mentioned that Ukrainian forces “cannot resist long before Russian troops outnumber them, better armed and better trained , but we are ready to fulfill our duty to the end ” . During the last days of the Russian strategy ” they have become more demanding .”
Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh spoke by phone with this military to ensure that it had taken ” urgent action ” to support its base, but did not specify what they were.
To reinforce this resistance the Ukrainian parliament yesterday approved the creation of the National Guard, a new militarized police force. The new force , formed with dependent Interior Ministry troops , ” will defend the Ukrainian people from internal and external aggression ” as the Acting President of Ukraine said . According to government sources , some 50,000 Ukrainians and citizens have been willing to join the ranks of the Guard, whose training camps begin work tomorrow Friday.
In all, some 20,000 Ukrainians will soon be the ” special reserve of the National Guard ” and fulfill the tasks of ” safeguarding peace and stability in the country ,” wrote the Interior Minister Arsen Avakov on his Facebook page . To Kiev the creation of the National Guard of Ukraine is a very important step for the country ” in response to attempts from outside to destabilize the situation ,” according to the minister of interior .
Tension grew throughout the day and evening as Ukrainians accused Russian forces to have shot one of their reconnaissance aircrafts when flying near the isthmus connecting the peninsula with the Ukraine mainland . This area has been installed with outposts in recent days and has seen soldiers digging trenches to stop an eventual advancement of Ukrainian troops in the center and west of the country , who are more loyal to Kiev than Russia. Although the Ukrainian army has begun maneuvers in various parts of the country , the Ukrainian government has publicly ruled out military intervention in the peninsula. Ukrainian military reported that is the second incident of this type and in this case the shots came from a Russian position in Armiansk . The Ukrainian aircraft was unarmed .
Meanwhile in Donetsk and Kiev a protester was stabbed to death by supporters of Moscow during protests in this pro-Russian stronghold .
