WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014 INTERNATIONAL Submit or leave: Ukrainian soldiers under siege

PEREVALNE: Russian soldiers dig trenches possibility of attacking the Russian forces. from the dockside to make an assault more and set up mortars on a hillside overlooking Reports of an agreement between Russian difficult, and three marines with bulletproof the Ukrainian military base of Perevalne in and Ukrainian commanders on the partial vests and helmets could be seen standing . Inside, soldiers loyal to Kiev are fac- lifting of the siege until Friday to allow sup- guard. Russian vessels and giant cisterns ing a painful dilemma-desert and submit to plies did not appear to be reflected on the linked by chains block access to the port. “We the new authorities or leave the peninsula. ground in Perevalne-a base 25 kilometers are prisoners of the political situation and of Crimea’s separatist parliament this week south of Crimea’s main city, . the port,” said Pavlo, an officer. “Until the ordered the “dissolution” of these military Outside the gates, around 15 Russian soldiers politicians decide the situation between units in Crimea as part of a declared national- in camouflage could be seen near an themselves, we will be hostages here,” he ization of Ukrainian state property. armored personnel carrier, lines of barbed said, explaining that he had been ordered to The bases have been under siege since wire and cement blocks to prevent access. defend the ship without firing a shot. February from pro-Russian civilians and The siege has been getting more organized “We have an agreement with the Russians thousands of Russian soldiers without by the day-with heated tents, toilets and that everything stays calm until March 21, national insignia. Crimea’s parliament speak- transmission equipment now set up near the and after that as well I hope,” he said. “After er Volodymyr Konstantynov has ordered the base. that we don’t know, only Moscow and Kiev Ukrainian military to “serve in Crimea and know. We’re here, we’re not getting off the swear allegiance to the republic or continue Defend without shooting ship. We’re military men, we’re waiting for to serve outside the borders of Crimea in the Pro-Russian civilians in front of the gates our orders,” he said. In and Ukrainian army”. Thousands of Ukrainian mili- were more aggressive than ever, insulting Simferopol, special offices have been set up tary are based on the peninsula-Russian and threatening foreign journalists and try- inside the recruitment centers of the President on Tuesday estimat- ing to take a camera from an AFP reporter. Ukrainian army-now under Crimean control- ed their number at 22,000 — who have been Three Ukrainian soldiers observed the scene. for the soldiers and sailors of Kiev who want forced to watch listlessly as Russian forces At the immense base of Sevastopol, home to to defect. A day after the referendum, KHERSON: A Ukrainian border guard patrols the road on the administra- cement their siege. ’s Black Sea Fleet, just two ships are fly- Crimea’s prime minister Sergiy Aksyonov said tive border of Crimea and not far the of in the Ukrainian authorities on Monday reiterat- ing the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine- that 500 Ukrainian military in Sevastopol had Kherson region. —AFP ed there was no question of their troops compared with around 20 Russian flags. The already joined Crimea’s forces-soon to be the leaving the peninsula but have excluded the Ukrainian ships have distanced themselves Russian army. —AFP Putin defies sanctions, moves to take Crimea Ukraine PM offers reassurance on NATO, militias MOSCOW: Russian President Russians. Russian politicians dis- Russia’s state property agency said it and Brussels said more measures Vladimir Putin, defying Ukrainian missed the sanctions as insignificant may postpone major privatization could follow in the coming days if protests and Western sanctions, told and a badge of honor. The State deals until the second half of the Russia formally annexes Crimea. parliament yesterday that Russia will Duma, or lower house, adopted a year. The EU also said its leaders move forward with procedures to statement urging Washington and US President Barack Obama would sign the political part of an annex Ukraine’s Crimean region. Brussels to extend the visa ban and imposed sanctions on 11 Russians association agreement with Putin signed an order “to approve asset freeze to all its members. and Ukrainians blamed for the mili- Ukraine on Friday, in a gesture of the draft treaty between the Russian Leonid Slutsky, one of the law- tary seizure of Crimea, including support for the fragile coalition Federation and the Republic of makers on the sanctions list, hailed Yanukovich, and brought to power by last month’s Crimea on adopting the ’s decision as historic. “Today and Sergei Glazyev, two aides to uprising. The accord does not Crimea into the Russian Federation”. we see justice and truth reborn,” he Putin. Putin himself, suspected in include any commitment to even- The order indicated the president said. Japan joined the mild Western the West of trying to resurrect as tual EU membership, on which the would sign the treaty with Crimea’s sanctions yesterday, announcing the much as possible of the former bloc’s members are divided. Russian-installed leader, who is in suspension of talks with Russia on Soviet Union under Russian leader- Highlighting rifts in the EU, mem- Moscow to request incorporation investment promotion and visa lib- ship, was not on the blacklist. Amid ber state Austria offered yesterday into Russia, but it gave no date. eralization. Putin was to address a fears that Russia might move into to mediate between Moscow and The move followed a disputed special joint session of the Russian eastern Ukraine, Obama warned the West. Chancellor Werner referendum in Crimea on Sunday, parliament on the Crimea issue yes- that “further provocations” would Faymann said Vienna’s military neu- trality made it an “honest broker”, while Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said he felt understanding for both sides in the conflict. SIMFEROPOL: The mother and wife of Reshat Ametov follow the coffin of Putin has declared that Russia Reshat Ametov during his funeral ceremony in Simferopol yesterday. has the right to defend, by military Crimean Tatar Reshat Ametov, who had been protesting against Russian force if necessary, Russian citizens troops in the Black Sea peninsula has been found dead, days after he was and Russian speakers living in for- seen being hauled away by men in military-style jackets. —AFP mer Soviet republics, raising con- cerns that Moscow may intervene elsewhere. Putin has repeatedly Crimean Tatars fret accused the new leadership in Kiev of failing to protect Russian-speak- BELOGORSK: Among the voices drowned out by tailed freedoms. In a shop at the end of a potholed, ers from violent Ukrainian national- victory celebrations across Crimea as it voted to dirt road in Belogorsk lined with modest bunga- ists. Ukraine’s government has leave Ukraine and join Russia were those of the lows, manager Niyara, who did not want to give accused Moscow of staging provo- Tatars, a minority group for whom the prospect of her surname, said people had been stockpiling cations in Russian-speaking regions a return to Moscow rule brings only fear and food. “People are really worried,” she said. “I have a of eastern Ukraine to justify military uncertainty. The Sunni Muslims, who are of Turkic child, and I myself am scared.” Niyara fears that intervention. origin, consider Crimea their home, and their Russian Crimeans may now try to seize back prop- In a symbolic gesture, Askyonov deportation to Central Asia by Soviet forces dur- erty from Tatars that they believe is theirs. “A lot of announced on Twitter that Crimea ing World War Two and earlier suppression by our houses are unregistered, and Russian regula- would switch to Moscow time from Josef Stalin meant they were far more comfort- tions on that kind of thing are very, very strict.” March 30, putting it two hours able with Ukraine. Now they face being dragged Crimea has been under the control of Russian ahead of the rest of Ukraine. In the into modern-day Russia against their will, despite troops for weeks, since Moscow sent in thousands Crimean capital Simferopol, the their boycott of Sunday’s referendum in which 97 of soldiers ostensibly to protect Russians against local government and businesses percent of voters in the Russian-majority region what it says are “fascists” in Kiev who overthrew set about preparing for the switch were said to have rejected Kiev. the Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich. MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (2nd right), Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov to Russian rule. Members of volun- Tatars account for 12 percent of the Black Sea Ukraine’s interim government and Western lead- (left), Crimean parliament speaker Vladimir Konstantinov (2nd left) and Alexei Chaly, teer security groups, who had peninsula’s population of two million people and ers dismiss that justification as nonsense. The mili- Sevastopol’s new de facto mayor (right), join hands after signing a treaty on the Ukrainian Black helped local police and Russian their protest was not enough to change the out- tary buildup, and formation of unarmed volunteer Sea peninsula becoming part of Russia in the Kremlin yesterday. —AFP forces keep order in the referen- come of a vote that has brought East-West rela- groups who have taken on low-level security dum run-up, handed in their red tions to their lowest ebb since the Cold War. “Why tasks, coincides with an increase in physical and staged under Russian military occu- terday. Russian forces took control of only increase Russia’s isolation and armbands on the central Lenin do I not want to be a part of Russia?” asked verbal threats against Tatars. Like Tatars, Russian pation, in which a Soviet-style 97 Crimea in late February following exact a greater toll on its economy. Square, where a statue of the Mustafa Asaba, a regional leader of Crimean nationalists have long memories, and recall to this percent of voters were declared to the toppling of Ukrainian president A senior US official said Obama’s founder of the Soviet Union still Tatars. “Russia’s government is unpredictable, day that the Crimean Khanate which Tatars ruled have voted to return to Russian rule, Viktor Yanukovich after deadly clash- order cleared the way to sanction stands. because at its head sits a dictator,” he said, refer- from the 15th to the 18th century was notorious after 60 years as part of Ukraine. By es between riot police and protest- people associated with the arms Banks scrambled to introduce ring to President Vladimir Putin who has master- for enslaving Christian Slavs and selling them on pressing ahead with steps to dis- ers trying to overturn his decision to industry and to target “the personal the rouble as an official currency minded the annexation of Crimea and alarmed in the Ottoman Empire. member Ukraine against its will, spurn a trade and cooperation deal wealth of cronies” of the Russian alongside the Ukrainian hryvnia, Europe and the United States in the process. The sizeable Tatar community in Belogorsk has Putin raised the stakes in the most with the EU and seek closer ties with leadership. although the switch could take Asaba, wearing a traditional black wool hat, organized unarmed patrols to check for military serious East-West crisis since the end Russia. EU foreign ministers agreed to place at the end of the month after said he feared pro-Russian agitators in Crimea hardware stationed in the area or anything of the Cold War. subject 21 Russian and Ukrainian March pensions and salaries are would resort to “provocation” to chip away at unusual that may pose a danger. , But Ukraine’s interim prime min- Sanctions officials to visa restrictions and asset cleared, banking sources said. Tatars’ identity, by curtailing their language, cul- a Crimean Tatar leader who led the campaign to ister, Arseniy Yatseniuk, sought to Despite strongly worded con- freezes. There were only three Members of the pan-European ture and religion. “We have always enjoyed free- boycott the referendum, told reporters on reassure Moscow on two key areas demnations of the Crimean referen- names in common on the US and Organization for Security and dom of expression ... and I think that if they Monday that the fate of several dozen Tatars of concern, saying in a televised dum, Western nations were cautious European lists - Crimean Prime Cooperation in Europe were meet- oppress us, we will resist,” he told Reuters at a remained unknown after they had disappeared in address delivered in Russian that in their first practical steps against Minister Sergei Aksyonov, Crimean ing again in Vienna to discuss the friend’s home in the windswept town of the last week. Disappearances in Crimea in the Kiev was not seeking to join NATO, Moscow, seeking to leave the door parliament Speaker Vladimir prospects for sending a monitoring Belogorsk, 50 km east of the Crimean capital last month have also been reported among the US-led military alliance, and open for a diplomatic solution. Konstantinov and Slutsky, chairman mission to Ukraine. An OSCE Simferopol. “There will be trials and prisons. human rights activists, individuals linked to the would act to disarm Ukrainian Russian stocks and the rouble rallied of the Duma’s committee on the spokeswoman tweeted that there Nothing good will come of it.” “Maidan” protests in Kiev that toppled Yanukovich nationalist militias. On Monday, the strongly on Monday as investors Russian-led Commonwealth of was no consensus yet, and all 57 The stocky 58-year-old was born in and journalists. The body of one Tatar in his 30s, United States and the European noted the initial sanctions did not Independent States, or CIS, group- members would have to agree on a Uzbekistan, where his family was banished in the named by Chubarov as Reshat Ametov, was found Union imposed personal sanctions target businesses or executives. But ing former Soviet republics. The US detailed mandate. Diplomats said 1944 deportation - punishment for Tatars who this week after he disappeared on March 3, and on a handful of officials from Russia shares gave up early gains yesterday list targeted higher-profile Russian Russia had been blocking this. One joined special Nazi units and fought the Soviets. Chubarov said he had died violently. His funeral and Ukraine accused of involvement and the rouble fell 0.6 percent officials close to Putin while the EU said Moscow wanted any reference Many also served in the Red Army, but when will be held on Tuesday. in Moscow’s military seizure of the against the dollar and the euro. In a went for mid-ranking officials and to the sovereignty and territorial Soviet troops retook the Black Sea peninsula, Black Sea peninsula, most of whose sign of the negative impact of the military commanders more directly integrity of Ukraine removed from Stalin punished the entire Tatar population by Authorities reach out 2 million residents are ethnic crisis on the investment climate, involved on the ground. Washington the text. —Reuters loading them into railway cattle cars to spend a Crimea’s pro-Russian authorities have said life in exile. Many died from disease or starvation, they will guarantee Tatar representation in the and Tatars were only allowed back to Crimea in local government and give the community prop- Biden in East Europe to reassure US allies the 1980s under Mikhail Gorbachev. er land ownership rights and financial aid. Both Chubarov and Asaba have also discussed estab- WARSAW: US Vice President Joe Biden landed in will be talking about further steps that the United Biden is scheduled to meet with Polish Prime Minister Hard times lishing some form of autonomy for Tatars in Warsaw yesterday on a mission to reassure allies in States can take and that NATO can take as an Donald Tusk and President Bronislaw Komorowski. Crimean Tatars, who have not been afraid to Crimea, although the talks are in their infancy. eastern Europe that Washington understands their alliance to further ensure the security of Poland He will also hold talks with Estonian President express their views during the crisis, draw on the Sergei Aksyonov, the leader of Crimea’s sepa- anxieties about Russia’s actions in Ukraine and will and the Baltics and other NATO alliances,” the offi- Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who is in Warsaw on an official hardships of the past to steel themselves for what ratist authorities whose election Kiev does not protect them if needed, officials said. The countries cial told reporters travelling with Biden. “They’ll dis- visit. they expect will be hard times ahead. recognize, said in a recent interview that money have become increasingly nervous that they could cuss energy security, and including in that, long- Today in Vilnius, Biden will meet with Lithuanian “If the worst-case scenario comes about (join- available to Tatars would be doubled this year. be next in line to face aggression from Russia after term diversification of energy supply, so that ener- President Dalia Grybauskaite and Latvian President ing Russia) - and we still hope it will not happen - I “There are no ethnic or religious conflicts and we President Vladimir Putin’s interventions to annex gy can’t be used as a political tool,” the official said, Andris Berzins. NATO’s top military commander, US think our people have been through worse times, will never allow that,” Aksyonov said. Ukraine’s Crimea region. On the two-day mission, citing shale gas and nuclear power as two areas for Air Force General Philip Breedlove, also is slated to including deportation and living under curfew in Unsurprisingly, Tatars regard Aksyonov with Biden plans to discuss ways to help the region discussion. meet with chiefs of defence in central and eastern Uzbekistan,” Asaba said. He believed only a small deep suspicion. “Aksyonov is unreliable, he’s a become less dependent on Russian oil and gas and The United States is poised to become a major Europe to discuss security issues this week, the offi- number of Tatars would leave Crimea now that it separatist,” said Lenura Asanova, an elderly Tatar limit Moscow’s ability to use its energy supplies for exporter of liquefied natural gas in coming years, cial said. Biden’s trip will serve to underscore to the looks destined to become part of Russia - a woman in Belogorsk. “Russia stands behind him.” political leverage, a senior administration official said. making inroads into a market that Russia currently leaders, as well as to countries like the Czech process that has yet to be formally completed. “I Asaba warned Putin that his aggressive move on He will also talk about new ways NATO and the dominates. Natural gas importers from around the Republic and Hungary, that “we’ve got their back,” think 95 percent of Tatars will stay here under Crimea could backfire. “In five years’ time, the United States could support their allies, building on world have urged the Obama administration to said Julianne Smith, a former deputy national securi- whatever conditions, because Crimea is our same Maidan will happen in Russia,” he said. US participation last week in war games in Poland speed up approvals of additional export facilities so ty adviser to Biden, in an interview before the trip. homeland. There is no other.” “That is why he is afraid. A year ago no-one and increased fighter jet patrols in the Baltics. “He they can become less reliant on Russia. Yesterday, The message is also aimed partly at Russia. —Reuters The brave face cannot hide genuine fear thought anyone could overthrow Viktor among Tatars that Russian rule could mean cur- Yanukovich. No-one.” —Reuters