http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Moscow flexes military muscle with urgent drills amid confrontation between pro and anti-Russian protesters in Crimean capital
In the Crimean capital of Simferopol, supporters of Ukraine's revolution and their pro-Russian opponents are embroiled in an ugly stand-off outside the regional assembly, where members were holding an emergency session to discuss the crisis gripping the country.
A crowd of several thousand people shouting pro and anti-revolutionary slogans have gathered outside the assembly, which pro-Russian protesters claim they are defending from the "fascists" who have taken power in Kiev. Small scuffles broke out as the two sides pushed and shoved each other.
Pro-European demonstrators, most of them ethnic Tatars, rallied under a pale-blue flag, shouting: "Ukraine! Ukraine!" and the Maidan's refrain of "down with the gang!"
The pro-Russian crowds, some of them cossacks in silk and lambswool hats, shouted back "Crimea is Russian!".
Protesters said parliamentarians were debating the possibility of a referendum to decide the future of the Black Sea peninsula though this could not be immediately confirmed.
The autonomous eastern peninsula, which is home to a largely ethnic Russian population, is at the centre of tensions over the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych, an ally of Moscow, by pro-European protesters at the weekend.
Earlier, Cossack protesters hung the Russian flag across the assembly's facade, according to Russia's Interfax news agency, calling on the government to ignore what they regard as illegal resolutions by the new authorities in Kiev.
Moscow has denounced the removal of Mr Yanukovych as tantamount to a coup, and has become increasingly concerned by swift moves by Ukraine's parliament to break away from the Russian sphere of influence.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister said that Moscow's "policy of non-intervention" will continue.
But the combat drills in the western district bordering Ukraine are likely to raise the temperature in the region.
"They wouldn't have done it now unless they wanted to have a political effect. If they had a planned exercise at this time in that command they would have cancelled it - if they wanted to de-escalate the situation," a former British Army commander said. "The converse is obviously true."
The Telegraph's David Blair in Kiev said: "Russia’s decision to place its forces near the Ukrainian frontier on high alert sends another pointed signal to its western neighbour. The Kremlin wants no-one to misunderstand its strength of feeling over the downfall of a friendly pro-Russian regime in Kiev, and the possible emergence of a new pro-Western government in Ukraine.
"But military alerts of this kind have been ordered before – and the term itself means little. What exactly will the armed forces in western Russia be doing today that they weren’t doing yesterday?
"Vladimir Putin’s latest decision is best viewed in the same light as the withdrawal of Russia’s ambassador from Kiev. The goal is to send a pointed message, perhaps timed to coincide with the possible formation of Ukraine’s new government. But the alert probably means nothing more than that. In particular, it emphatically does not suggest that Russian tanks are about to start rolling over the border."
On Tuesday, the country's interim president, Oleksander Turchynov called an emergency meeting to discuss "the question of not allowing any signs of separatism and threats to Ukraine's territorial integrity - meaning the events which have taken place in Crimea - and punishing people guilty of this," according to an official statement.
In the fiercely pro-Russian Crimean port city of Sebastopol, the home of Russia's Black Sea fleet, the newly installed mayor announced the formation of vigilante 'self-defence' units to defend the region against the "fascist" revolutionaries in Kiev.
Alexei Chaliy also said he would guarantee the salaries of the Berkut riot police, which was this morning officially disbanded by Mr Turchnyov.
Video has emerged via Channel 4 of members of the feared riot police begging for forgiveness for their role in repressing the Kiev protests, as they knelt in front of members of the pro-European movement on Tuesday night.
The United States and Britain have sought to lower the temperature amid fears the former Soviet state could fragment in the struggle between its pro-Russian and pro-European populations.
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, insisted the country must not be a battleground between East and West, after meeting William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, on Tuesday.
"This is not a zero-sum game, it is not a West versus East," said Mr Kerry after the two men met at the State Department.
"This is about the people of Ukraine and Ukrainians making their choice about their future."
Mr Hague, who is planning to visit Kiev shortly, urged the country's interim leaders "to form an inclusive government, involve people from different parts of Ukraine including from the east and the south of Ukraine. It's important for Ukrainians to be able to make these decisions together after the terrible divisions of recent months."
"We want to send our strong support for the territorial integrity and unity of Ukraine," he added.
Mr Lavrov this morning called on Europe's democracy watchdog to condemn the rise of "nationalist and neo-fascist sentiment" in western Ukraine.
In a statement, his ministry said the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the organisation should also condemn moves to ban the Russian language and to turn the "Russian-speaking population into 'non-citizens'".
The United States has warned Russia against interference in the crisis, saying military intervention by Moscow would be a "grave mistake".
After a classified State Department briefing on Tuesday, Senator John McCain, who has openly expressed suspicion of Vladimir Putin for years, warned that the Russian leader has long had his eye on Ukraine as the "crown jewel" of the former Soviet states.
"I know that Putin believes that Ukraine is part of Russia. He is committed to that," Mr McCain said.
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