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Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a news conference at his country residence of Novo-Ogaryova outside Moscow on March 4.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a news conference at his country residence of Novo-Ogaryova outside Moscow on March 4.
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Live Blog: Ukraine On The Brink

Summary

-- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kyiv as U.S. officials announced Washington is preparing a $1 billion aid package for Ukraine.

-- Speaking at a press conference at his residence, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the change of government in Ukraine an "unconstitutional overthrow and an armed seizure of power."

-- Putin also said there are no considerations to annex Crimea and no intentions to provoke separatist sentiment. He said it is up to the citizens of Crimea to determine their own future.

-- In Crimea, there are standoffs between Russian and Ukrainian troops in their bases, with conflicting reports of ultimatums given to Ukrainian troops to surrender that come and pass.

-- Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin has said that Ukraine's ousted President Viktor Yanukovych sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting that he use the Russian military to restore law and order in his country.

-- In eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian demonstrators have occupied part of the regional government building in the city of Donetsk. Meanwhile, a few hundred pro-Russian activists tried but failed to force their way into the regional administration building in the southern city of Odesa.

NOTE: Live blog updates are listed according to local time in Kyiv

-- Glenn Kates / Luke Allnutt / Coilin O'Connor / Dan Wisniewski
08:18 27.2.2014
08:15 27.2.2014
08:08 27.2.2014
Here's the latest update on events in Crimea from RFE/RL's newsdesk:

Ukraine's acting interior minister says Interior Ministry troops and police have been put on high alert after a group of armed men seized the government and parliament buildings in Crimea.

Arsen Avakov said security forces had sealed off the area around the occupied buildings in the regional capital, Simferopol.

Crimean Prime Minister Anatoliy Mohyliov said a group of around 50 armed men entered the buildings early this morning, removed the guards without any fight, raised Russian flags, and blocked government workers from entering.

No one was reported hurt.

The seizure of the official buildings in Simferopol comes amid rising concern about separatist tendencies in Crimea, with its largely ethnic Russian population, after the ouster of Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych.

On February 26, pro-Russian activists and ethnic Tatars who support Ukraine's new leaders scuffled outside the regional parliament. (Reuters, AP, Interfax)
07:51 27.2.2014
This picture is now doing the rounds on Twitter:

07:27 27.2.2014
07:17 27.2.2014
The AP news agency is now reporting that "several dozen armed men" have occupied the parliament building in Crimea. They are apparently wearing read and orange -- "a Russian symbol of the victory in World War II" -- and threw a flash grenade in response to a journalist's questions.
07:09 27.2.2014
And now this from the FT's Courtney Weaver:

07:07 27.2.2014
Reuters correspondent Alessandra Prentice has also tweeted a photo of the Russian flag flying atop the Crimean parliament building (this time from another angle):

06:46 27.2.2014
As regards, the reported armed occupation of government buildings in Crimea, this is just in from the wires:

A local leader of the Tatar community in Ukraine's Crimea says unknown armed men have seized two government buildings in the regional capital, Simferopol.

Refat Chubarov, a supporter of the new Ukrainian authorities, wrote on his Facebook page early today that the buildings of the local government and legislature were seized overnight by uniformed men.

Photographs show Russian flags flying over both buildings.

The Interfax news agency quotes the legislature's press office as confirming the building has been seized.

The Associated Press says that calls to the Crimean legislature ring unanswered and that its website is down.

A Crimean parliament spokesman said the gunmen had ordered security guards to leave the building.

On February 26, anti-Russian protesters stormed the regional parliament, disrupting a special session on the Ukrainian crisis. (Interfax, AP, AFP, lenta.ru, RT)
06:30 27.2.2014
Reports from Crimea say that unknown armed gunmen have seized two government buildings in the regional capital, Simferopol.

The Russian RT network has just posted this tweet, which says that Russian flags have been raised over the buildings of Crimea's parliament and council of ministers:


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