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:
There are many hotheads who are trying to create a destabilized situation in the autonomous republic of Crimea, and because the life and safety of our citizens is the most valuable thing, we have decided to curtail the duration of the referendum and hold it as soon as possible. [Reuters]
Indeed, there do appear to be hotheads creating a destabilized Crimea, Aksyonov just may be among them.
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