Ukraine has put its armed forces on full combat alert and warned of war after Russian president Vladimir Putin won approval from parliament to officially deploy troops in the region.
Photo: Soldiers stand near Russian army vehicles outside a Ukrainian border guard post in the Crimean town of Balaclava on Saturday. (Reuters: Baz Ratner)
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The vote gave the green light to Mr Putin's proposal to send troops into Ukraine's Crimea region, where the ethnic Russian majority is rejecting the new government in Kiev.
Ukraine's acting president Oleksander Turchinov has expressed concern, saying any Russian military intervention "would be the beginning of war and the end of any relations".
The move has also been greeted with alarm by the international community, prompting an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the president has not yet decided to use his new authority.
Seven things to know about Crimea
- The Crimean Peninsula is rich in arable land and occupies a strategically important location on the Black Sea.
- Crimea has a population of 2.3 million, 58 per cent of whom speak Russian and identify themselves as ethnic Russians.
- The Soviet Union transferred authority over Crimea to Ukraine in 1954.
- Ukraine retained control after the collapse of the USSR in a 1994 agreement brokered by the US, UK and France.
- Russia's major naval base is located in the capital of Sevastopol and is the base for their Black Sea Fleet. Russia's lease on the base expires in 2042.
- The lease states that Russian personnel may not remove military equipment or vehicles outside the base without permission from Ukraine.
- The region was a stronghold for ousted president Viktor Yanukovych.
"The president now has the full arsenal of mechanisms necessary for the regulation of the situation," he said.
"Of course he will take the decisions taking into account how the situation develops. It is to be hoped that the situation will not develop according to the scenario that is developing at the moment towards a threat for Russians in Crimea."
Troops with no insignia, but clearly Russian, have already taken over government buildings and positions in the autonomous republic of Crimea, within Ukraine, which has often voiced separatist aims.
It is the only part of the country with a Russian ethnic majority.
Ukrainian defence minister Igor Tenyukh says Russia has sent 30 armoured personnel carriers and 6,000 additional troops into Crimea since Thursday.
West expresses concerns as UN meeting held
Western powers including the United States, Britain, France and Germany have called for de-escalation of the tensions, while the UN Security Council has met for its second emergency consultation in as many days.
The US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, told the meeting Russia's move is "as dangerous as it is destabilising."
"It is time for the Russian intervention in Ukraine to end. The Russian military must stand down," Ms Power said.
Ukraine urged the emergency session to act now to stop Russian "aggression" in Crimea, accusing Moscow of brutally violating the world body's charter.
Photo: The UN Security Council meets in New York to discuss the Ukraine tensions. (Twitter: UKUN_NewYork)
"We call on the Security Council now to do everything possible to stop aggression of the Russian Federation to Ukraine. There is still a chance," Ukrainian ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev said.
Meanwhile Mr Putin has spoken to his US counterpart Barack Obama by phone, telling him Russia reserves the right to protect its interests if there is violence in east Ukraine or Crimea.
In a statement, the Kremlin said Mr Obama expressed concern about the possibility of Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
The White House says Mr Obama warned Mr Putin that he was violating international law and called for troops to be pulled back to their bases in Crimea.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is also set to express "grave" concerns directly to Mr Putin by telephone, his spokesman said.
"He calls for an immediate restoration of calm and direct dialogue between all concerned to solve the current crisis," Martin Nesirky told reporters in New York.
Crimea's pro-Russian protesters against Ukraine change of government
So far there has been no sign of Russian military action in Ukraine outside Crimea.
Dozens of pro-Russian armed men in full combat gear have patrolled outside the seat of power in Crimea's capital Simferopol.
Similar gunmen seized the city's parliament and government buildings on Thursday and took control of its airport and a nearby military base on Friday.
More than 10,000 people carrying Russian flags protested on Saturday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, the stronghold of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych.
Protesters declared they supported "the aspirations of Crimea to rejoin Russia".
"Russia! Russia!", they shouted, as demonstrators on the sidelines of the rally distributed leaflets calling on people "not to obey authorities in Kiev".
"We're aghast by what is happening in Kiev," said Oleksandr, a 40-year-old protester.
"We will not let nationalists enter our city."
On Friday, Mr Yanukovych made his first public comments since fleeing Ukraine and seeking protection in Russia.
He provoked mass protests in Ukraine in November by backing out of plans to sign landmark deals with the European Union and instead saying Kiev would seek closer economic and trade ties with its former Soviet master Russia.
AFP/Reuters
