Moscow says it has the right to base nuclear weapons in Crimea:
Russia says it has the right to place nuclear weapons on the Crimean Peninsula.
Mikhail Ulyanovsk, head of the Foreign Ministry's Department on Arms Control, said on March 11 that he does not know "if there are nuclear weapons" in Crimea now and is unaware of any plans by the Russian government to deploy them on the peninsula, "but in principle Russia can do it."
Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine a year ago in a move condemned by Western countries and the United Nations.
Ukraine agreed in 1994 to give up it nuclear arsenal -- the third-largest in the world -- in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the United States, and Great Britain.
Western military officials have expressed concern over the possibility that Russia could deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea. (Reuters, TASS)
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
MARIUPOL, Ukraine — A volunteer brigade with self-proclaimed Nazis fighting alongside government troops against Russian-backed separatists is proving to be a mixed blessing to its cause.
Though the 900-member Azov Brigade adds needed manpower to repulse the rebels, members who say they are Nazis are sparking controversy, and complaints of abuses against civilians have turned some residents against them.
A drill sergeant who would identify himself only as Alex wore a patch depicting Thor's Hammer, an ancient Norse symbol appropriated by neo-Nazis, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In an interview with USA TODAY, he admitted he is a Nazi and said with a laugh that no more than half his comrades are fellow Nazis. He said he supports strong leadership for Ukraine, like Germany during World War II, but opposes the Nazis' genocide against Jews. Minorities should be tolerated as long as they are peaceful and don't demand special privileges, he said, and the property of wealthy oligarchs should be taken away and nationalized.
He vowed that when the war ends, his comrades will march on the capital, Kiev, to oust a government they consider corrupt.
NATO leaders say Russia "still in Ukraine":
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says that "Russia is still in Ukraine" and urged Moscow to withdraw all its forces and to end its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said in Brussels on March 11 that NATO "has seen and still sees a strong Russian presence and strong support for separatist forces in eastern Ukraine."
U.S. General Philip Breedlove, the supreme allied commander of NATO troops, said at the same press conference that the alliance has "seen some success" with the cease-fire but said it is "difficult to know" where heavy weapons withdrawn from the front line have been moved.
He added that the border between Russia and eastern Ukraine was wide open and it was hard to know how many Russian troops are in Ukraine.
More than 6,000 people have been killed in fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces since April.
A cease-fire agreement in force since February 15 has greatly reduced fighting and led to some heavy weapons being withdrawn by both sides.