The situation remains tense in Crimea, although the 3am deadline, by which Russia had reportedly told Ukrainian forces to leave Crimea by or face a military attack, has passed without incident.
The two Ukrainian warships anchored in the Crimean port of Sevastopol remain loyal to Kiev, and there was no attempt from Russian forces to take them over. Russia had previously rejected reports of this ultimatum as “total nonsense”, but the Ukrainian commanders of the ships insist that it was an unofficial ultimatum and delivered by mobile phone rather than through official channels.
The first warning shots of the stand-off were fired by pro-Russian troops who have taken control of an air base in Belbek as around 300 unarmed Ukrainian soldiers marched towards them.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, is due to fly into Kiev later today to show US support for the new government in Ukraine, although the US and Europe remain vague as to the repercussions Russia will face if the invasion continues.
Meanwhile, in Russia, ousted pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has reportedly written to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to use military force in Ukraine against what he maintains is an illegitimate government in Kiev.
Putin has called those who ousted Yanukovych as “militants” who have plunged Ukraine into “chaos” through an “anti-constitutional coup and armed seizure of power”.