March 5:
A news anchor for the Kremlin-funded English language Russia Today network has caused a controversy by quitting while on air in protest of the network’s “whitewashing” of Russian policy in Ukraine. According to NBC News, Liz Wahl disclosed that her work on the network was constantly censored and distorted to fall in line with Kremlin propaganda, “to make America look like the bad guy and make excuses for Putin.”
March 6:
With the regional parliament building occupied by gunmen, Crimean lawmakers have voted almost unanimously to join the Russian federation, reports the Voice of America. A formal referendum on the issue will be held on March 16th. But the new Ukrainian government in Kyiv does not recognize the legitimacy of the Crimean parliament, and has denounced the forthcoming referendum as an “illegitimate decision... that has no legal grounds at all,” in the words of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
[EDITORS' NOTE: The parliamentary vote in question was apparently fraught with irregularities, including a blackout on telephone and email communications during the meeting. There is, as of yet, no reliable account of how many parliamentary deputies voted for the measure, or if there was even a quorum present when the votes were cast.]
March 7:
In its bid to solidify its control over Crimea, Russia has thrown up a roadblock to the Ukrainian navy - literally. According to Australia’s The Age newspaper, the Russian navy has sunk an aging anti-submarine vessel in the waterway connecting the Black Sea to Crimea’s Donuzlav Lake in an attempt to complicate access to the now-Russian-occupied Peninsula by Ukrainian forces. The sinking follows a temporary naval blockade of the area by 10 Russian vessels.
The incursion into Crimea has whipped up widespread nationalist fervor in Russia, the Associated Press reports. The outpouring of emotion has included a rally of tens of thousands of people in Moscow’s Red Square, demonstrating in favor of incorporating Crimea into the Russian Federation. The idea has been echoed on an official level; meeting with the Chairman of Crimea’s Parliament in Moscow, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko pledged that “"[i]f the decision is made, then (Crimea) will become an absolutely equal subject of the Russian Federation.”
March 9:
Russia has reinforced its military foothold in Ukraine with the insertion of additional troops and equipment into Crimea. Citing Reuters, Gulf Today reports that a convoy of hundreds of troops in nearly 50 trucks have arrived at a military base near the Crimean capital of Semfiropol and took control of it. Separately, Ukraine’s border service has said that Russian forces have seized a border outpost on the eastern part of the Crimean Peninsula.
Moscow’s recent military moves in Ukraine have revived fears of Russian expansionism among the countries on its periphery. Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have all expressed concerns that Russia’s use of military force to occupy Crimea could presage further aggression. “There was no warning for these latest military games,” Petras Austrevicius, the vice speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament, has told the McClatchy news service. “Russia is presenting a clear threat, and, knowing the Russian leadership, there is a great risk they might not stop with Ukraine. There is a clear risk of an extension of activities.” In the view of many in these countries, Russia’s actions represent part of a larger – and ominous – strategy. “Russia today is dangerous,” Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has told the European Union. “They are trying to rewrite the borders after the Second World War in Europe.”
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