• published: 01 Mar 2014
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kiev yanukovych tymoshenko berkut maidan udar yatsenyuk tiahnybok svoboda pravy sektor Batkivshchina russia russian military Ukraine crisis: Russian helicopters seen 'flying to Sevastopol' A swarm of Russian helicopters are filmed flying to Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula causing the Ukraine to accuse Russia of an invasion The United States warned Russia on Friday not to inflame the situation in Ukraine and raised questions about reports of Russian armored vehicles and personnel there, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said. Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region of Ukraine on Friday in what the new Ukrainian leadership described as an invasion and occupation by Moscow's forces. More than 10 Russian military helicopters flew into Ukrainian airspace on Friday over Crimea, Kiev's border guard service said, accusing Russian servicemen of blockading one of its units in the port city of Sevastopol, where part of Moscow's Black Sea fleet is based. Source Telegraph.co.uk Ukraine accuses Russia of 'armed invasion' of Crimea, Viktor Yanukovych emerges from hiding US President Barack Obama says he is deeply concerned about reports of Russian military activity in Ukraine and warns there would be costs to any infringement of its sovereignty. "The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine,'' Mr Obama told reporters at the White House. "We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine.'' Obama recognised that Russia had interests and cultural and economic ties with Ukraine, after the exit of the pro-Moscow government in Kiev, and also had a military facility in Crimea. But he said any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be "deeply destabilising''. The president did not say whether the United States had intelligence as to whether reports quoting a Ukrainian official that 2000 Russian troops had landed in the Crimea were correct. But he warned a Russian military intervention in the post-Soviet state would "represent a profound interference in matters that must be determined by the Ukrainian people''. Ukrainian authorities say they have regained control of two Crimean airports seized during an "armed invasion" by Russian forces that prompted the country's new pro-EU leaders to appeal for protection from the West. The spiralling tensions in a nation torn between the West and Russia took another dramatic turn on Friday, when ousted president Viktor Yanukovych emerged from hiding to insist he had not been overthrown and would continue to fight for the future of Ukraine. Mr Yanukovych told reporters in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don in his first public appearance for almost a week that he had been "compelled to leave" Ukraine after he received threats to his security. "I have not been overthrown by anyone, I was compelled to leave Ukraine due to an immediate threat to my life and the life of those close to me," he said, sitting at a desk alongside a senior editor from the ITAR-TASS news agency in front of three Ukrainian flags. "I intend to continue the fight for the future of Ukraine against those who try to saddle it with fear and terror." Mr Yanukovych, who fled after being impeached by parliament on Saturday, savaged the anti-Kremlin and pro-EU forces who have now taken power. "Power in Ukraine has been taken by nationalist, pro-fascist young people who represent the absolute minority of people in Ukraine." "This is anarchy, terror and chaos," he added. His comments came as Swiss authorities ordered a freeze on his assets and those of his multi-millionaire son and launched a criminal probe into alleged money-laundering by the pair. Mr Yanukovych and his coal magnate son Oleksandr are on a list of 20 Ukrainian officials including former ministers being targeted by the authorities in Switzerland. Liechtenstein followed suit on Friday and also froze the bank accounts of the same officials. Austria announced it also had moved against 18 Ukrainian officials suspected of violating human rights and involvement in corruption. Austrian media reported the group included former ministers but said it was not known if Mr Yanukovych or his family had any funds in the country. Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine's security and defence council said Russian soldiers and local pro-Kremlin militia were responsible for the dawn raids on Crimea's main airport and another base on the southwest of the peninsula where pro-Moscow sentiment runs high. A spokesman for Russia's Crimea-based Black Sea Fleet denied any involvement in the airport occupations. But Ukraine's parliament immediately appealed to the US and Britain to uphold a 1994 pact with Russia FOR FULL ARTICLE visit: http://www.news.com.au/world/ukraine-accuses-russia-of-armed-invasion-of-crimea-viktor-yanukovych-emerges-from-hiding/story-fndir2ev-1226841514137