Crimea’s pro-Moscow leader blames fresh tensions on ‘many hotheads’

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Crimea’s pro-Moscow leader blames fresh tensions on ‘many hotheads’
(Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Another round of takeovers and skirmishes re-upped tensions in Crimea overnight, as Russian forces gained control of a military office and seized an armory, kicking the officers and their families who live there out of apartments. The moves came on the heels of Russia’s parliament signaling it would annex Crimea if the region votes to break away from Ukraine in a hastily scheduled March 16 referendum.

It’s not the forceful troop tactics that have pro-Moscow Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov worried, though:

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Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.