Armed takeover fuels tension between Russia and Ukraine

Fears of a major regional conflict between Russia against the west have intensified after unknown pro-Russia gunmen seized a government and parliament building in the Crimean Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Ukraine.

Witnesses said a group of 120 men stormed the regional administrative complex before chanting "Russia, Russia," and hoisting a Russian flag above the parliament building.

Acting Ukrainian president, Oleksander Turchynov, has since told parliament that he had ordered army officials and police to take "all measures" necessary to protect Ukrainian citizens.

"I am appealing to the military leadership of the Russian Black Sea fleet. Any military movements, the more so if they are with weapons, beyond the boundaries of this territory [the base] will be seen by us as military aggression," he said. 

The former speaker also warned Russia not to intervene in the crisis by moving troops and any movement by Russian military forces in the Crimean Black Sea port of Sevastopol, would be considered a "military aggression," while Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has ordered fighter jets to a state of high alert, as well as large-scale military exercises on Ukraine's border.

It is unclear whether the men are members of a pro-Russian self-defence militia formed in the aftermath of Ukraine's revolution or undercover Russian soldiers.

The armed takeover has nevertheless, fuelled tensions between Ukraine and Russia, more so after reports stating that ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanuokvich, was being sheltered in Moscow.

The escalation in tension between Russia and Ukraine has steadily increased over the last few months, but the overnight armed takeover was the first such incursion by pro-Russian elements inside Ukraine.

Those behind the takeovers of parliament buildings came a day after pro and anti-Russian protesters clashed in the region, where the majority of the population is ethnic Russian.

EU leaders expressed alarm at the latest developments.

Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Russia not to do anything that would "escalate tension or create misunderstanding" while Poland's foreign minister  Radoslaw Sibkorsi called the seizure of government buildings in the Crimea a "very dangerous game".

The US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel said that the US was watching Russian military movements closely, and urged the country not to take any action on Ukraine that could be misinterpreted "at a time of great tension". 

Meanwhile, reports have emerged that former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich is now in Russia. Breaking his five-day silence, Yanukovich insisted that he was still the head of state and dubbed the presidency of Turchynov as "illegitimate".

Ukraine's interim government issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovich, accusing him of being responsible for the deaths of at least 70 protests during the February 21 protests in Kiev. The parliament had also voted that if captured, Yanukovich would stand trial at the International Criminal Court.