Armed gunmen have taken over airports in two cities in the Crimea, a historically-Russian region ceded to Ukraine in the 1950s and now part of the independent Ukrainian state.
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SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — Amid fears of a Kremlin-backed separatist rebellion here against Ukraine’s fledgling government, armed men in military uniforms took up positions at two Crimean airports as Ukraine’s interior minister warned of “a direct provocation,” but there was no sign of any violence.
In Simferopol, the regional capital of Crimea, a large number of masked armed men were stationed at the international airport Friday morning. They were dressed in camouflage and carrying assault rifles, but their military uniforms bore no insignia. It was not clear who they were and they declined to answer questions.
In Kiev, the speaker of Parliament, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, who is now the acting president of Ukraine, convened a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council to discuss the situation in Crimea.
The identity of the gunmen is a mystery, but speculation exists that they are there either supporting the Russian community in Ukraine, or Russia itself.
The Crimea is historically and strategically important for Russia. It has had a naval presence at Sevastapol for more than 200 years. This base was once the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea military presence.
The Crimea is strongly ethnically Russian, especially the urban areas. Some Ukrainian speakers live in the northern part of the region. Its original inhabitants, Turkic speakers known as Crimean Tartars, were largely expelled during Soviet days but have started to return in large numbers in recent years. The Tatars are predominantly Muslim and have an anti-Russian bias.