The Russian upper house of parliament has voted unanimously to approve the deployment of troops in Ukraine at the request of President Vladimir Putin.
Putin has said that he is looking to stabilise the situation and to protect Russian citizens, such as the ethnic-Russians in Crimea who hold dual Ukrainian and Russian passports, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet which is stationed there.
This move by the Kremlin will increase tensions between Kiev and Moscow, with Ukraine already accusing the Russians of bringing in 6,000 extra troops to their military base without prior authorisation.
The Russian parliament also recommended the recall of their ambassador from the US over President Barack Obama’s comments that there would be “costs” for any military intervention in Ukraine.
Unidentified pro-Russian military personal, as shown in the video above, which many suspect to be directly backed by Moscow, took control of government building and both airports in Crimea earlier this week.
The UN Security Council is to hold meeting on the rapidly escalating crisis in Ukraine at 19:00 GMT.
In their last meeting on Friday, Ukraine accused Russia of illegal military incursions, while US and European delegations warned Russia to withdraw their military forces in the country, and Russia claimed any military movements were as part of their agreement with Kiev on maintaining their naval base there.
UK Foreign Minister William Hague tweeted his opposition to Russia’s decision to deploy troops:
We oppose decision to deploy Russian troops on Ukrainian soil against wishes of #Ukraine gov and condemn any act of aggression
— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) March 1, 2014
