Posted on 03/18/2014 6:01:58 PM PDT by No One Special
Ukraine's military says an officer has been killed in an attack on a base in Crimea, the first such death since pro-Russia forces took control in February.
Ukraine has now authorised its troops to fire in self-defence.
The attack came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Crimea signed a bill to absorb the peninsula into Russia.
Western powers condemned the treaty and a G7 and EU crisis meeting has been called for next week in The Hague.
The Ukrainian crisis began in November last year after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych abandoned an EU deal in favour of stronger ties with Russia. He fled Ukraine on 22 February after protests in which more than 80 people were killed.
'Military stage'
An eyewitness told the BBC that armed men arrived in two unmarked vehicles, storming the base in Simferopol and firing automatic weapons.
The Ukrainian government said a junior officer who was on duty in a park inside the base had been killed and another officer injured. A third serviceman had leg and head injuries after being beaten with iron bars, it said.
The government said the commander of the unit was captured by men wearing Russian uniforms.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
“America is a friend of freedom everywhere, but a custodian only of our own.”—John Adams
(meaning, we don’t have a dog in this fight. If it’s so important, we’ll join in—but only AFTER Hungary, Poland, England France, Switzerland, and everyone else in EUROPE who think it’s so important, has mobilized and sent all their troops to the front.)
No one was injured by the missile, which struck on Monday evening near Tsitelubani, a village about 30 miles from Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. The missile broke apart on impact, but did not explode. The Georgian military later detonated the missile.
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