Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea reject Russian demands of allegiance

Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea reject Russian demands of allegiance
Russia ratchets up pressure on Ukrainian forces in Crimea, as it continues to defy international calls that it withdraw its troops.
Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine reject Russian demands for allegiance

Russian soldiers stand outside a Ukrainian military base in Perevalnaya, in Ukraine's Crimea region. The facility, under siege by Russian forces for three days, faced demands that it give up its weapons. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times / March 3, 2014)
By Sergei L. Loiko and Carol J. Williams

March 3, 2014, 5:00 p.m.

BAKHCHISARAY, Ukraine — The Russian soldiers outside an army base in this Crimean city had demands Monday for the Ukrainian soldiers inside: Pledge allegiance to the Russian military or put their weapons in storage, abandon their post and go home.

The Ukrainians refused.

"They must know that should they attempt to storm the base, we will fight back until the last drop of our blood," Col. Sergei Stashenko, the site's Ukrainian commander, told The Times. "Whatever they are up to, we will not allow them to get hold of our weapons."

Outside the base, armed Russian soldiers strolled around on a sunny afternoon, petting stray dogs and joking with a couple of young women in a nearby park. Over the barbed wire, armed Ukrainian soldiers watched their movements through binoculars.

Of the Russian demands, Stashenko was adamant: "This is absurd and totally unacceptable to us. We remain committed to the oath we took before our country and the Ukrainian people."

Throughout Ukraine's Crimea region Monday, Russia ratcheted up its pressure on Ukrainian forces, demanding their virtual surrender, even as Moscow continued to defy international demands that it withdraw its troops. A Ukrainian coastal defense unit in the town of Perevalnaya, under siege by Russian forces for three days, faced demands that it give up its weapons.

Russian naval forces, which have long leased a base in Crimea, blockaded two Ukrainian navy vessels in the port of Sevastopol and issued what was becoming a familiar demand to the sailors: Surrender and swear allegiance. The Interfax news agency in Moscow denied that the ultimatum had come from the Kremlin.

Russian troops also seized control of the commercial port of Kerch, on the far eastern point of the diamond-shaped peninsula, and shored up patrols of military installations throughout the region.

Moscow has defended the chokehold its forces have put on the region — which so far has not led to a shooting war — as necessary to protect Russian citizens and military installations in Crimea after the ouster late last month of Ukraine's pro-Russia president. But the intervention has spurred outrage in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and throughout the international community.

[link to www.latimes.com]