Unidentified armed men in military uniform (2-L) patrol a building near the airport in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine, 28 Feb: photo - EPA/ARTUR SHVARTS
In a further escalation of tension in Ukraine following the ousting of the president Yanukovych regime, acting interior minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page that there had been no bloodshed or clashes, when armed men he described as Russian naval forces took over a military airport near the port of Sevastopol where the Russian Black Sea fleet has a base.
"I consider what has happened to be an armed invasion and occupation in violation of all international agreements and norms," he said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Poland's foreign minister Radosław Sikorski expressed hope in a telephone call on Thursday that "the current events in Crimea will not escalate and will not have a negative effect on Ukraine’s territorial integrity," Poland's foreign ministry has said in a statement.
Group of pro-Russia activists gathering near a building of Crimea autonomy parliament in Simferopol, Ukraine, 27 February 2014. Clashes broke out in Crimea between pro-Russian separatists and supporters of the new leadership in Kiev and two people were killed and 35 were injured, according to local media reports. A group of unknown people captured Crimean parliament, demanding a referenda to withdraw Crimea from Ukraine: photo - EPA/ARTHUR SHWARTZ
The Interfax news agency is reporting that Russian servicemen wearing helmets and armoured body protection and backed by armoured personnel carriers have taken up position on the perimeter of a military airport at Sevastopol.
The agency quoted military sources in the region as saying that they had gone to Belbek military airport to stop "fighters" flying in.
An eyewitness told Reuters that the men, dressed in full battle gear and carrying assault rifles and machine guns, were moving freely in an out of the control tower.
Russia has denied any of their troops are operating in Crimea, the only region in Ukraine with a Russian ethnic majority.
"No Black Sea Fleet units have moved toward [the airport] let alone taking any part in blockading it," Interfax quoted a Russian spokesman for the fleet as saying.
The spokesperson did say, however, that it had stepped up measures by its "anti-terror units" to protect areas where parts of the fleet were located in Crimea and the living quarters of service personnel and families "given the unstable situation".
The deposed President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kiev after scores of demonstrators were killed last week, was expected to hold a news conference in on Friday, where he is expected to declare that he is still Ukraine's head of state. (pg)
updated 09.54 with quotes from Russian spokesman