The airport is operating normally reported an AFP journalist at the scene who also said access to the airport remains open with passengers checking in for flights.
However, outside the airport perimeter, there appears to be about a dozen unidentified armed men, adding jitters to the situation where Crimean government buildings have been stormed by armed pro-Kremlin gunmen.
Interfax-Ukraine news agency citing witnesses, had reported that the airport had been overrun by armed men carrying Russian navy flags, a day after pro-Russian gunmen took over government buildings in the city.
The armed men dressed in uniforms with no designated marks, reportedly took control of the airport overnight after arriving in trucks, the report said.
Representatives of Ukraine's new interim government are reportedly due to fly into the Russian-speaking peninsula on Friday.
Over at the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Ukraine's deposed president Viktor Yanukovych is said to be planning a news conference which will be his first public appearance since fleeing Ukraine.
The news conference will take place at 1300 GMT with the exact location to be announced later said Russian news agencies quoted unnamed sources in his entourage.
On Thursday, Crimea's regional parliament, which remains under the control of pro-Moscow gunmen, voted to hold a referendum on May 25 to expand the region's autonomy from Kiev and replace the local government with a pro-Russian official.
The move comes after the ouster of Kremlin-allied Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych last weekend following the deaths of scores of people in clashes in Kiev.
- AFP/sf
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/crimea-airport-normal/1015340.html
28/2/14
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Ukraine - Des hommes armés s'emparent de l'aéroport de Simferopol en Crimée....
ReplyDeleteDes hommes armés non identifiés se sont emparés dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi de l'aéroport de Simferopol en Crimée, république autonome d'Ukraine, selon l'agence Interfax.
Une cinquantaine d'hommes armés se sont emparés dans la nuit de l'aéroport, devant lequel une foule brandissant des drapeaux de la flotte russe de la mer Noire s'est ensuite rassemblée, d'après l'agence Interfax-Ukraine. Jeudi matin, un commando pro-russe avait pris possession du parlement et du gouvernement local de Simferopol. La Crimée, dans le sud de l'Ukraine, où est basée la flotte russe de la mer Noire, est en proie à des tensions séparatistes. (Belga)
http://www.rtl.be/info/monde/europe/1072614/ukraine-des-hommes-armes-s-emparent-de-l-aeroport-de-simferopol-en-crimee
28/2/14
Ukraine: Bewaffnete besetzen Krim-Flughafen....
ReplyDeleteNach der Erstürmung von Parlamentsgebäuden besetzten Bewaffnete den Krim-Flughafen von Simferopol. Eine kurze Aktion, denn sie fanden nicht, was sie suchten.............http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2014-02/ukraine-krim-flughafen-simferopol
28/2/14
Ukraine crisis: 'Russians occupy' Crimea airports....
ReplyDeleteUkraine's interior minister has accused Russian naval forces of occupying Sevastopol airport in the autonomous region of Crimea.
Arsen Avakov called their presence an "armed invasion".
But Russia's Black Sea Fleet has denied that Russian servicemen are taking part.
The other main Crimean airport, Simferopol, was also occupied by armed men on Friday. The men are thought to be pro-Russia militia.
The Ukrainian parliament has called on the United Nations Security Council to discuss the situation in Crimea.
Amid the escalating tensions, Ukraine's central bank has put a 15,000 hryvnia (1,000 euro; £820) limit on daily bank withdrawals in hard currency...........http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26379722
28/2/14
Ukraine: Russian Forces "Blocking" Crimea Airport ....
ReplyDeleteUkraine's interior minister has accused Russian forces of staging a "military invasion and occupation" at two airports in Ukraine's Crimea region.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote on his Facebook page Friday that the armed men were blocking the Belbek airport in Sevastopol, where Russia has a naval base. Unidentified men were also patrolling the international airport in Simferopol, the Crimean capital.
Russia has not commented on the allegations, which come a day after gunmen had seized control of government buildings in Crimea, a Ukrainian region with strong ties to Moscow. The gunmen also raised the Russian flag.
Meanwhile ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich, who says he is under Russian protection, is expected to address the media on Friday in a news conference in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don....................http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-russian-forces-blocking-crimea-airport/1861125.html
28/2/14
Agreements Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea should be cancelled — Ukrainian parliament...
ReplyDeleteThe Kharkiv agreements on the stay of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine should be cancelled, Ukrainian parliament deputy Oleg Lyashko said.
“Due to Russia’s position on Crimea the Kharkiv agreements should be immediately denounced,” the deputy said.
On April 21, 2010 in Kharkiv, the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Dmitry Medvedev and Viktor Yanukovych signed a historical agreement. Under the document, Ukraine will get a 10-year-discount on Russian gas. In return Yanukovych agreed to extend the Black Sea Fleet’s lease in Sevastopol by 25 years.
In June 2010 Medvedev and Yanukovych signed a law on ratification of the agreement to extend the Black Sea Fleet’s presence in the Crimea after 2017 for another 25 years.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/721385
28/2/14
FM: Maneuvers of Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea fully in line with basic accords...
ReplyDeleteManeuvers of armored vehicles of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea are conducted fully in line with Russian-Ukrainian basic agreements, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Friday.
“The Russian Foreign Ministry has also filed a return note to Ukraine over maneuvers of armored vehicles of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea that were required to protect deployment places of the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine that is being done fully in line with Russian-Ukrainian basic agreements on the Black Sea Fleet,” the ministry stated.
http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/721452?utm_medium=rss20
28/2/14
Crimea must remain part of Ukraine - Yanukovych...
ReplyDeleteUkrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on Friday said that the standoff in Crimea was a "natural reaction" to the "bandit-like" takeover of power by the new authorities in Ukraine.
Speaking at a news conference in Russia, he said he still saw himself as the Ukrainian president and as such believed that Crimea must remain part of Ukraine.
In the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, he also said he would not ask Russia for military support in dealing with the crisis in Ukraine, where he said power was stolen by "a bunch of radicals".
He added he would not take part in a May presidential election, calling it illegal..............http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_28/Crimea-must-remain-part-of-Ukraine-Yanukovych-9425/
28/2/14
Crimean Rada calls for broad autonomy staying part of Ukraine - speaker...
ReplyDeleteThe Crimean Verkhovna Rada has called for broad autonomy while staying within Ukraine, the local Rada's speaker, Vladimir Konstantinov, announced.
The Crimean authorities call for the republic's broad autonomy while staying within Ukraine, the local Rada's speaker, Vladimir Konstantinov, told journalists today.
"A referendum on broad autonomy within Ukraine will be held. Such autonomies exist in many countries worldwide," he said.
Voice of Russia, TASS
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_28/Crimean-Rada-calls-for-broad-autonomy-staying-part-of-Ukraine-speaker-4240/
28/2/14