Yanukovych was said to be holed up in a luxury government retreat and to have scheduled a news conference Friday near the Ukrainian border.
As gunmen wearing unmarked camouflage uniforms erected a sign reading “Crimea is Russia” in the provincial capital, Ukraine’s interim prime minister declared the Black Sea territory “has been and will be a part of Ukraine.”
The escalating conflict sent Ukraine’s finances plummeting further, prompting Western leaders to prepare an emergency financial package.
Yanukovych, whose abandonment of closer ties to Europe in favor of a bailout loan from Russia set off three months of protests, finally fled by helicopter last week as his allies deserted him. The humiliating exit was a severe blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had been celebrating his signature Olympics even as Ukraine’s drama came to a head. The Russian leader has long dreamed of pulling Ukraine — a country of 46 million people considered the cradle of Russian civilization — closer into Moscow’s orbit.
For Ukraine’s neighbors, the specter of Ukraine breaking up evoked memories of centuries of bloody conflict.
“Regional conflicts begin this way,” said Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, calling the confrontation “a very dangerous game.”
Russia has pledged to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. But the dispatch of Russian fighter jets Thursday to patrol borders and drills by some 150,000 Russian troops — almost the entirety of its force in the western part of the country — signaled strong determination not to lose Ukraine to the West.
Thursday’s dramatic developments posed an immediate challenge to Ukraine’s new authorities as they named an interim government for the country, whose population is divided in loyalties between Russia and the West. Crimea, which was seized by Russian forces in the 18th century under Catherine the Great, was once the crown jewel in Russian and then Soviet empires.
It only became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred jurisdiction from Russia — a move that was a mere formality until the 1991 Soviet collapse meant Crimea landed in an independent Ukraine.
In the capital, Kiev, the new prime minister said Ukraine’s future lies in the European Union, but with friendly relations with Russia.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, named Thursday in a boisterous parliamentary session, now faces the difficult task of restoring stability in a country that is not only deeply divided politically but on the verge of financial collapse. The 39-year-old served as economy minister, foreign minister and parliamentary speaker before Yanukovych took office in 2010, and is widely viewed as a technocratic reformer who enjoys the support of the U.S.
Shortly before the lawmakers chose him, Yatsenyuk insisted the country wouldn’t accept the secession of Crimea. The Black Sea territory, he declared, “has been and will be a part of Ukraine.”
In Simferopol, the Crimean regional capital, gunmen toting rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles raised the Russian flag over the local parliament building. They wore black and orange ribbons, a Russian symbol of victory in World War II.
Oleksandr Turchynov, who stepped in as acting president after Yanukovych’s flight, condemned the assault as a “crime against the government of Ukraine.” He warned that any move by Russian troops off of their base in Crimea “will be considered a military aggression.”
“I have given orders to the military to use all methods necessary to protect the citizens, punish the criminals, and to free the buildings,” he said.
Experts described a delicate situation in which one sudden move could lead to wider conflict.
“The main concern at this point is that Kiev might decide to intervene by sending law enforcement people to restore constitutional order,” said Dmitry Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Center. “That is something that would lead to confrontation and drag the Russians in.”
In a bid to shore up Ukraine’s fledgling administration, the International Monetary Fund said it was “ready to respond” to Ukraine’s bid for financial assistance. The European Union is also considering emergency loans for a country that is the chief conduit of Russian natural gas to western Europe.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in the organization’s first official statement on Ukraine’s crisis that it was in talks with its partners on “how best to help Ukraine at this critical moment in its history.” Ukraine’s finance ministry has said it needs $35 billion over the next two years to avoid default. Ukraine’s currency, the hryvnia, dropped to a new record low of 11.25 to the U.S. dollar, a sign of the country’s financial distress.
Western leaders lined up to support the new Ukrainian leadership, with the German and British leaders warning Russia not to interfere.
“Every country should respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Ukraine,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in London.
NATO defense ministers met in Brussels, and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel emerged appealing for calm.
“These are difficult times,” he said, “but these are times for cool, wise leadership on Russia’s side and everyone’s side.”
Yet the prospect of the West luring Ukraine into NATO is the very nightmare that Russia is desperately trying to avoid. Trenin of the Carnegie Center said a Ukraine-NATO courtship “would really raise the alarm levels in Moscow.”
Yanukovych declared Thursday in a statement that he remains Ukraine’s legitimate president. He was reportedly to hold a news conference Friday in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, not far from the Ukrainian border. A respected Russian news organization said the fugitive leader was staying at the Kremlin-run Barvikha retreat just outside Moscow, though spokesmen for Putin and for the department that runs the resort told The Associated Press they had no information about Yanukovych’s whereabouts.
“I have to ask Russia to ensure my personal safety from extremists,” Yanukovych’s statement read, according to Russian news agencies. Shortly after, an unnamed Russian official was quoted as saying that Yanukovych’s request had been granted.
Yanukovych fled after riot police attacked protesters in Kiev’s central square in clashes that killed more than 80 people, and European and Russian officials intervened. He has not been seen publicly since Saturday, when he insisted he remained the legitimately elected president — a position backed by Russia. Legal experts say his flight and the appointment of a new government make that stance moot.
On Thursday, the White House said Yanukovych “abdicated his responsibility” and welcomed the Ukrainian parliament’s efforts to stabilize the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry voiced concern about the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine and vowed to protect their interests. Putin on Thursday asked the government to consider providing humanitarian assistance to Crimea.
State-owned ITAR-Tass news agency quoted a statement read at a session of the ministry’s board on Thursday, saying that Russia “will have a firm and uncompromising response to violations of the rights of compatriots by foreign states.”
In Crimea’s capital, a pro-Russian activist who gave only his first name, Maxim, said he and other activists were camped overnight outside the parliament in Simferopol when about 50 men wearing flak jackets and carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers and sniper rifles took over the building.
“Our activists were sitting there all night calmly, building the barricades,” he said. “At 5 o’clock unknown men turned up and went to the building. They got into the courtyard and put everyone on the ground.”
“They were asking who we were. When we said we stand for the Russian language and Russia, they said: ‘Don’t be afraid. We’re with you.’ Then they began to storm the building bringing down the doors,” he said. “They didn’t look like volunteers or amateurs; they were professionals. This was clearly a well-organized operation.”
“Who are they?” he added. “Nobody knows.”
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Associated Press writers Karl Ritter in Kiev, Nataliya Vasilyeva and Laura Mills in Moscow and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.(Photo: AP)
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SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine — Armed men kept hold of the Crimea parliament as Russian jets streaked near the border and a newly created Ukraine government formed to try to end a crisis that threatens to split the country following the ouster of its president.
Ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych surfaced Thursday in Russia after having vanished for days following his removal by the Kiev parliament Saturday. He said he was staying in a residence in Russia at the invitation of Moscow and insisted he is still the legitimately elected president of Ukraine, Interfax Ukraine reported.
"Regrettably, what is going on in (parliament) these days is not legitimate," Yanukovych said, according to Russia's RBK news organization.
In Kiev, a parliament that includes members of Yanukovych's party on Thursday chose Arseniy Yatsenyuk as Ukraine's new prime minister. His first move was to form a new government that can qualify for foreign aid from Europe and the United States.
He said Ukraine does not want a fight with Russia but that the country wouldn't accept the secession of the southern Crimea region. Crimea "has been and will be a part of Ukraine," said Yatsenyuk, 39, who served as economy minister and parliamentary speaker before Yanukovych took office in 2010.
The United States has offered $1 billion in loan guarantees to help Ukraine, but some Republicans called the offer "chicken feed" compared to the $15 billion that Russia has offered to get Ukraine to turn away from closer ties with the West.
"The USA should be doing a lot more to support the transition in Ukraine," and send a strong message to Russia to say out of Ukraine's affairs, said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Graham said the U.S. military should hold exercises in NATO-member Poland, restart plans to build missile defense in Poland that Obama scrapped, and urge as many countries as possible to quickly recognize the new Ukrainian government.
"I would reestablish ourselves in the region," Graham said. "And I would tell the Russians if they disrupt this effort to get a democratic way forward in Ukraine, that sanctions of any and all kind would be on the table."
Russian intervention would cause "a fundamental change in our relationship," he said. "It would be an unacceptable act… a violation of a country's sovereign right to reorganize itself."
Russian fighter jets were put on combat alert and were patrolling the border as part of exercises ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Russia's Defense Ministry. It didn't specify the areas where patrol missions were being conducted.
The Russian military also announced measures to tighten security at the headquarters of its Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it would "protect the interests" of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, according to Russian state-owned ITAR-Tass news agency. The ministry said Russia "will have a firm and uncompromising response to violations of the rights of compatriots by foreign states."
Reports Friday from the Interfax news agency said roughly 50 armed men in Russian-marked military uniforms seized an airport in the Crimean capital early Friday, but a later report datelined Moscow, quoted an airport representative as saying the men apologized and left when they learned no Ukrainian troops had landed.
The unnamed airport official said the airport was operating normally, Interfax said.
Ukrainian Acting President Olexandr Turchinov warned Russian military forces, such as those stationed in Sevastopol, to remain out of the country proper.
"Any movement of military servicemen with weapons outside this territory will be viewed as military aggression," Interfax quoted Turchinov as telling Ukraine's parliament Thursday.
The United States has warned such a move would be a "grave mistake" but did not say what if any repercussions there would be if Russia did so. NATO, the U.S.-European military alliance, said it considered Ukraine's future to be "key to Euro-Atlantic security" and told the new government in Kiev that it would back its "sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity."
"A sovereign, independent and stable Ukraine, firmly committed to democracy and the rule of law, is key to Euro-Atlantic security," it said in a statement.
Crimea's port city of Sevastopol has a majority of ethnic Russians and its history and economy are tied to the Black Sea fleet. On Wednesday, thousands of Russian flag-waving demonstrators cheered and applauded during a pro-Russia rally in which the Russian navy's Black Sea Fleet's choir provided entertainment, singing patriotic Russian songs that evoked the Red Army's triumph over fascism during World War II.
Elena Varinova of Sevastopol could barely contain her anger at what she sees as misinformation being broadcast by western media of events in Ukraine.
"Sevastopol is a city of Russian fame — it will defend itself," Varinova said as she stood beside idling buses that had brought in a fresh wave of Russian flag-toting protesters.
Then Vika Tsiganova, 51, a Russian singer who was popular in Soviet times, took the stage.
"This place is not for fascists," she said to wild applause. "They've tried to be here but it's not their place. Sevastopol is a city of Russian glory for the seamen."
Anger is simmering over a draft law proposed by the interim parliament that would strip the Russian language of its official status.
"We are Russians and we want to express ourselves in Russian," said businessman Mikhail Nichik, 37, who says he hails from a military family with long roots in Sevastopol. "I understand the Ukrainian language in general, but I am not able to express my thoughts clearly and articulate properly in Ukrainian."
There was no word on the identity of the 50 to 60 armed men who took over the parliament building during the night, raising the Russian flag over the building. Crimea has a level of autonomy, hence its own parliament, but is still part of Ukraine and has been since the nation declared independence from the now dissolved Soviet Union in 1991, an event Putin has described as a great tragedy for Russia.
Ukraine activated the country's police forces following the seizure of the regional parliament building in the Crimea.
Amid the protests in Kiev that led to the new government, the Crimea parliament proposed a referendum to determine whether it should secede. Crimea, which has many Russian-speaking citizens, proposed a referendum date of May 25, the same date set for new elections for all of Ukraine's lawmakers and office of president.
As a result of "the unconstitutional seizure of power in Ukraine by radical nationalists supported by armed gangs," Crimea's peace and order is "under threat," Oksana Korniychuk, the press secretary of the head of the parliament, said in a statement Thursday, according to Russia's RT television station.
The armed takeover followed a day of scuffles between rival factions of ethnic Crimean Tatars — many of whom support the interim government — and members of the Russian-speaking population who reject the caretaker government as an illegitimate coup.
Yanukovych said that it would be illegal for any forces to take action domestically against Crimea because it was not ordered by the president himself. He added in the statement that he would fight on until the agreement reached last week that ordered new elections in December — instead of May as parliament approved over the weekend — was fulfilled.
Russia's RBK reported Wednesday evening that Yanukovych was staying at the Barvikha sanatorium in Moscow, which is run by the presidential administration's property department. The spokesman for this department, Viktor Khrekov, said he has no information about this.
Pro-Russia activists stand with Crimean and Russian flags in front of the Crimea parliament building in Simferopol, Ukraine, on Feb. 27.(Photo: Arthur Shwartz, European Pressphoto Agency)
Contributing: Oren Dorell in Washington; the Associated Press
Pro-Russian demonstrators march with a huge Russian flag during a protest in front of a local government building in Simferopol, in the Crimea region of Ukraine. Ukraine's acting interior minister says Interior Ministry troops and police have been put on high alert after dozens of men seized local government and legislature buildings in Crimea. (Photo: Darko Vojinovic, AP)
Pro-russian demonstrators shout slogans as they demonstrate in front of the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol. (Photo: Vasiliy Batanov, AFP/Getty Images)
Newly appointed Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, right, speaks to newly appointed members of parliament during a first meeting of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers in Kiev. Yatsenyuk was one of the most prominent leaders of the three-month anti-government protests. (Photo: Yury Kirnichny, AFP/Getty Images)
New Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, right, and deputies stand for a minute of silence in honor of people killed during the recent clashes between police and anti-government protesters, at the Ukrainan parliament. (Photo: Sergei Supinsky, AFP/Getty Images)
A man wears a helmet with a painting depicting Jesus Christ during a demonstration rally in Kiev. Ukraine issued a blunt warning to Russia today after dozens of pro-Kremlin gunmen in combat fatigues seized government buildings on the volatile Crimean peninsula and Moscow offered protection to its neighbour's ousted president. (Photo: Yuriy Dyachyshyn, AFP/Getty Images)
Pro-Russian men armed with clubs gather outside the Crimea regional parliament building after parliamentarians voted for a May 25th referendum on Crimea's autonomy earlier in the day in Simferopol, Ukraine. (Photo: Sean Gallup, Getty Images)
People gather during a rally outside the parliament in Kiev. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
Pro-Russia demonstrators march with a huge Russian national flag during a protest in front of a local government building on Feb. 27 in Simferopol, Ukraine. A group of heavily armed men seized the parliament building and raised the Russian flag, but have not issued any demands. (Photo: Darko Vojinovic, AP)
A group of pro-Russia activists stand near the Crimea autonomy parliament in Simferopol. (Photo: Arthur Shwartz, epa)
Pro-Russia activists wave Crimean and Russian flags in front of the Crimea autonomy parliament. (Photo: Arthur Shwartz, epa)
Ukrainian police stand in front of pro-Russia demonstrators at the Crimea autonomy parliament in Simferopol. (Photo: Arthur Shwartz, epa)
Pro-Russia activists share a drink near the Crimean parliament. (Photo: Arthur Shwartz, epa)
A man demonstrates as people stage a rally outside the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
A man stands on an armored personnel carrier in front of the Ukrainian parliament. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
A protester belonging to the Self Defense of Maidan group guards the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
Women listen to speakers on stage in Independence Square on Feb. 26 in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo: Jeff J. Mitchell, Getty Images)
Crimean Tatars clash with a police officer in front of a local government building in Simferopol, Ukraine. (Photo: Andrew Lubimov, AP)
Pro-Russian demonstrators applaud during a protest in front of a local government building in Simferopol. (Photo: Darko Vojinovic, AP)
Flowers and barricades cover the ground where protesters were killed in recent clashes with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square. (Photo: Efrem Lukatsky, AP)
Crimean Tatars shout slogans during a protest in front of a local government building on Feb. 26 in Simferopol, Ukraine. Ten thousand Muslim Tatars rallied in support of the interim Ukranian government and clashed with a group of pro-Russia demonstrators. (Photo: Darko Vojinovic, AP)
Demonstrators supporting the new Ukrainian government battle pro-Russia supporters during a protest near the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol. (Photo: Artur Shvarts, European Pressphoto Agency)
Crimean Tatars who support the interim Ukrainian government, left, fight with pro-Russia protesters. (Photo: Darko Vojinovic, AP)
Demonstrators supporting the intirim Ukrainian government battle pro-Russia supporters. (Photo: Aertur Shvarts, European Pressphoto Agency)
Police officers guard the Parliament building in Simferopol. (Photo: Artur Shvarts, European Pressphoto Agency)
People collect wood at the camp in Kiev's Independence Square. Ukraine's interim leader on Feb. 25 delayed the appointment of a new unity government until Feb. 27 as the country sought to find a way out of its most serious political crisis since independence. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
A funeral of an anti-government demonstrator takes place in Independence square, where dozens of protester were killed in clashes with riot police last week in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images)
Ukrainian's set up a cross in front of the Ukrainian Parliament building in downtown of Kiev. Russia and the European Union warned of growing instability in Ukraine, as the country's new leaders postponed the formation of an interim government and potential financial aid packages were being discussed on both sides of the Atlantic. (Photo: Maxim Shipenkov, European Pressphoto Agency)
People pray in Independence Square where dozens of protesters were killed in clashes with riot police last week in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo: Jeff J. Mitchell, Getty Images)
A woman reacts during a funeral of an anti-government demonstrator in Independence Square. (Photo: Jeff J. Mitchell, Getty Images)
A woman reacts at a memorial for the people killed in clashes with the police at Kiev's Independence Square. (Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, AP)
An anti-Viktor Yanukovych protester punches a suspected thief after being captured in Kiev's Independence Square. (Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, AP)
Maidan self-defense unit members greet people as they drive through a barricade in central Kiev. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
People rest on an armored vehicle in Kiev's Independence Square. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
A man who was recently injured in clashes during protests looks on in Kiev's Independence Square. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
People light candles near a makeshift memorial in homage to anti-government protesters killed in the past weeks' clashes with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square. Ukraine issued an arrest warrant Monday for ousted president Viktor Yanukovych over the "mass murder" of protesters and appealed for $35 billion in Western aid to pull the crisis-hit country from the brink of economic collapse. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
A woman cries as people gather in Kiev's Independence Square. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
A makeshift memorial in Kiev's Independence Square drew hundreds. Anger boiled over last week after 82 people, primarily demonstrators, were killed in clashes with security forces in the bloodiest violence in Ukraine’s post-Soviet history. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
Youths sit near a fire late in the night in Independence Square. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
Men carrying clubs walk towards Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo: Jeff J. Mitchell, Getty Images)
Men carry a cross of the crucifixion to points in Independence Square where anti-government demonstrators were killed in clashes with police last week in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo: Jeff J. Mitchell, Getty Images)
People add flowers and candles leading to the barricades in central Kiev. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
People rest in the town hall of Kiev, Ukraine. The town hall has been the logistic, health, food and recreation center of protesters since the beginning of anti-government demonstrations. (Photo: Laszlo Beliczay, European Pressphoto Agency)
A young woman and children light a candle in memory of those who were killed during the recent violent protests in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine's parliament voted to appoint its speaker Oleksandr Turchynov as interim president. (Photo: Alexey Furman, European Pressphoto Agency)
Women shed tears as they stand in front of a makeshift memorial for victims of violence in Ukraine during a protest outside the Ukrainian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary, AFP/Getty Images)
People gather for prayers and to listen to speakers in Independence Square in Kiev. (Photo: Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)
People lay flowers and light candles to pay their respects at a memorial for anti-government protesters killed in clashes with police in Independence Square. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images)
People wave a large Ukrainian flag in Independence Square on Feb. 23 in Kiev. After a chaotic and violent week, Viktor Yanukovych has been ousted as president as the Ukrainian parliament moves forward with scheduling new elections and establishing a caretaker government. (Photo: Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)
Parliament speaker and newly appointed interim president of Ukraine, Olexandr Turchynov, seated, talks with deputies during a session at the Parliament in Kiev on Feb. 23. Ukrainian lawmakers appointed Turchynov interim president, a day after they voted to oust President Viktor Yanukovych. (Photo: Sergei Supinsky, AFP/Getty Images)
People visit makeshift memorials to the victims of the recent clashes in central Kiev on Feb. 23. A new era opened in Ukraine as parliament gave itself three days to form a new government after impeaching a defiant president Viktor Yanukovych and calling early elections following a week of carnage. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
People walk past a tourist map near a barricade in central Kiev on Feb. 23. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
A man places a candle at a memorial to anti-government protesters killed in clashes with police in Independence Square on Feb. 23 in Kiev. (Photo: Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)
A young Ukrainian woman kisses her baby next to a makeshift shelter in downtown of Kiev. Protesters took full control of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych's residence and provided free access of the premises for Ukrainians and the media. (Photo: Maxim Shipenkov, European Pressphoto Agency)
After her release from prison, former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko speaks to the news media from Kiev's Independence Square. (Photo: Andrew Kravchenko, AP)
Ukrainian President OleksandrTurchynov's supporters shout slogans as they try to prevent celebrations by pro-Western supporters in Donetsk. Meanwhile, ousted president Viktor Yanukovych's whereabouts remain a mystery following a week of carnage followed by his impeachment. (Photo: Alexander Khudoteply, AFP/Getty Images)
Anti-government protesters stand on a barricade at the entrance to Kiev's Independence Square after the Ukranian parliament impeached a defiant president Viktor Yanukovych. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government protester waits with a bat at the entrance of Independence Square in Kiev on Feb. 23. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
People visit Kiev's Independence square on Feb. 23. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
Anti-government activists stand outside the parliament in Kiev on Feb. 22. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
Anti-government protesters block the bus in which policemen, captured earlier Feb. 20, were being held near the October Palace in Kiev on Feb. 21. The policemen were released. (Photo: Sergei Chuzavkov, AP)
Anti-government protesters react to news from Ukraine's parliament in Kiev, Ukraine on Feb. 22. Protesters took control of Ukraine's capital on Saturday, seizing the president's office as parliament sought to oust him and form a new government. (Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, AP)
People celebrate outside the parliament in Kiev. (Photo: LOUISA GOULIAMAKI AFP/Getty Images)
An alleged sniper and member of the pro-government forces is beaten by anti-government protesters in Kiev. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
A protester guards the entrance to Ukrainian President Yanukovych's countryside residence in Mezhyhirya, Ukraine. (Photo: Efrem Lukatsky, AP)
People pass by a burned car in central Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, AP)
The body of an anti-government demonstrator is covered in flowers and carried through the crowd in Independence Square on Feb. 22. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images)
Men carry a casket containing the body of an anti-government protester killed in clashes with police from Independence Square on Feb. 21. (Photo: Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)
Women stand along the path of a funeral procession for two anti-government protesters killed in fighting with police on Feb. 21. (Photo: Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)
Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, on April 22, 2009, left. In the photo at right, it is barely recognizable on Feb. 20, 2014, following months of protests. (Photo: Sergei Supinsky AFP/Getty Images)
Anti-government protesters man a barricade at Independence Square in Kiev on Feb. 21. (Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, AP)
An anti-government protester gets a blessing from a priest at Independence Square. (Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, AP)
Ukrainian opposition supporters attend their rally at Independence Square during continuing protests in Kiev. (Photo: Maxim Shipenkov, epa)
An anti-government protester sleeps at Independence Square. (Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, AP)
Former Ukrainian minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko speaks during a rally. Police officers from Lviv, Ukraine, who joined anti-government protesters stand on a stage. (Photo: Maxim Shipenkov, epa)
A female anti-government demonstrator wears flowers in her helmet. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images)
Women prepare meals for anti-government demonstrators in Independence Square. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images)
A female medic prepares medicines inside the International Centre of Culture and Arts. The building has become a makeshift clinic. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images)
An anti-government protester walks with Ukrainian policemen who joined their side. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images)
An anti-government protester walk between burned vehicles near the front line barricades. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images)
Protesters fortify a barricade in Kiev's Independence Square on Feb. 21. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
Protesters sing their national anthem at a barricade. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government demonstrator holds a burning tire as he adds to a barricade. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government demonstrator fortifies a barricade with a burning tire. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government demonstrator throws a burning tire onto a barricade. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
Anti-government demonstrators monitor a barricade with burning tires. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government demonstrator adds tires to a barricade in Kiev. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government demonstrator sleeps near a barricade. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government protester rests behind a barricade. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
A scarecrow-like anti-government protester stands atop a barricade. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government demonstrator holds a burning tire as he fortifies a barricade. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
Protesters drink tea early in the morning at Independent Square. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government demonstrator fortifies a barricade with a burning tire. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow. The meeting focused on the situation in Ukraine. (Photo: Alexei Druzhinin, AP)
Ukrainian lawmakers clash during a Parliament session in Kiev. (Photo: Maksym MNarusenko, AFP/Getty Images)
Ukrainian lawmakers clash during a Parliament session. (Photo: Maksym Marusenko, AFP/Getty Images)
Speaker of Ukrainian Parliament Volodymyr Rybak, center, speaks to lawmakers during a Parliament session. (Photo: Maksym Marusenko, AFP/Getty Images)
Anti-government protesters gather between barricades. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)
An anti-government protester stacks bricks to form battlements at a barricade near the Ukraine House. (Photo: Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)
The deputies of the opposition react after a vote in the Ukraine parliament in Kiev on Feb. 20. (Photo: Yury Kirnichny, AFP/Getty Images)
A protester stands behind barricades during clashes with police in Kiev on Feb. 20. Fighting continues despite a truce negotiated between the Ukrainian president and opposition leaders. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)
An Ukrainian woman carries tires to help build a new barricade in Kiev's Independence Square. (Photo: Maxim Shipenkov, epa)
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27 February 2014 Last updated at 23:38 ET
A crowd of pro-Russian protesters - some with a giant Russian flag - gathered outside the parliament building in Simferopol after it was seized by armed men
Despite the presence of police outside government buildings, the protesters met no resistance
The armed men had stormed the parliament building overnight and hoisted the Russian flag
Crimea, Ukraine's most ethnically divided region, says it will hold a referendum in May for broader autonomous powers
The US has called for all sides to "step back and avoid any kind of provocations" amid heightened tensions in Ukraine's Crimea region.
Secretary of State John Kerry said he had spoken to his Russian counterpart who promised to respect Ukraine's "territorial integrity".
But he warned Moscow needed to back up its words with actions.
Earlier, pro-Russian armed men stormed Crimea's local parliament, while Russia has been conducting military exercises.
The ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych - on the run since he was voted out of office last week - also reportedly surfaced in Russia.
Ukrainian media said he arrived in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don early on Friday, where he is due to give a news conference.
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Bridget KendallDiplomatic correspondent, BBC News
Analysis
Bridget KendallDiplomatic correspondent, BBC News
What Russia says it wants seems quite unrealistic. Its foreign ministry argued that the best way out of Ukraine's crisis and the Crimean stand-off would be to go back to the compromise agreement signed last week. But that would seem to mean President Yanukovych returning to power.
Russia also wants reforms to suit all regions of the country, including - presumably - that referendum on Crimean autonomy.
Russia says it wants to keep Ukraine united, is prepared to collaborate and won't intervene militarily.
But how far is it prepared to ratchet up the confrontation if the new government in Kiev, or the West, object to its proposals?
In statement on Thursday he said he still considered himself the legitimate president.
A new interim government - including Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk - was approved by parliament on Thursday.
US Vice President Joe Biden pledged his country's "full support" with future reforms in Ukraine, in a telephone call to Mr Yatsenyuk.
Words 'not enough'
Mr Kerry sought assurances from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone call on Thursday, asking Russia "to support Ukraine to rebuild unity, security and a healthy economy".
Mr Lavrov, he said, relayed a message from President Vladimir Putin that Russia would respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and that snap military drills ordered on Wednesday were unrelated to the events in Ukraine.
But Mr Kerry said words were not enough. "We will look to Russia for the choices that it makes in the next days for their confirmation of these statements," he said, in a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Russia, Nato and some Western leaders have expressed concern at the unfolding events in Crimea.
Ukrainian interim President Olexander Turchynov warned Russia that any movement of its Black Sea Fleet beyond its base in Crimea would be seen as "military aggression".
Russia scrambled jets to monitor its borders on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Mr Lavrov confirmed Russia would work with the West but warned foreign powers against taking decisions on behalf of Ukrainians.
He stressed the need to implement an EU-brokered peace deal agreed between Mr Yanukovych and opposition parties before his departure from office last week.
The uncertainty in Ukraine has sent its currency, the hryvnia, tumbling to a record low.
Mr Yatsenyuk has accused Mr Yanukovych and his government of stripping the state coffers bare, telling parliament billions of dollars had been transferred to offshore accounts in the past three years.
The International Monetary Fund said it had received a request for assistance from the new government and would be sending a team to Kiev in the coming days.
Building seized
Tensions have been rising in traditionally Russian-leaning Crimea since Mr Yanukovych was ousted.
Early on Friday, a group of armed men in military dress reportedly descended on the airport in the regional capital of Simferopol, Interfax-Ukraine news agency says, quoting eyewitnesses.
The news website Ukrayinska Pravda reports that there were four Kamaz trucks and around 150 armed men, some speaking with "thick Russian accents".
However the airport was reportedly working as normal. One unnamed source at the airport told Russia's Ria Novosti news agency that the report it had been seized "does not correspond to reality".
In a separate incident on Thursday, unidentified armed men entered Crimea's parliament building by force and hoisted a Russian flag on the roof.
They were cheered by a handful of pro-Russian demonstrators who gathered round the building, despite a police cordon.
"We've been waiting for this moment for 20 years," the protest leader said. "We want a united Russia."
The men are believed to be still in the building, although it is not clear if they have made any demands or statements.
They did put up a sign reading "Crimea is Russia" and threw a flash grenade in response to questions from a journalist, AP news agency reported.
A crowd of pro-Russian protesters - some with a giant Russian flag - gathered outside the parliament building in Simferopol after it was seized by armed menDespite the presence of police outside government buildings, the protesters met no resistanceThe armed men had stormed the parliament building overnight and hoisted the Russian flagCrimea, Ukraine's most ethnically divided region, says it will hold a referendum in May for broader autonomous powers
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Crimea
- Autonomous republic within Ukraine
- Transferred from Russia in 1954
- Ethnic Russians - 58.5%*
- Ethnic Ukrainians - 24.4%*
- Crimean Tatars - 12.1%*
- Source: Ukraine census 2001
On Wednesday the city saw clashes erupt between Ukrainians who support the change of government and pro-Russians.
Amid the rising tensions, the Crimean parliament announced it would hold a referendum on expanding the region's autonomy on 25 May.
Crimea - where ethnic Russians are in a majority - was transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954.
Ethnic Ukrainians loyal to Kiev and Muslim Tatars - whose animus towards Russia stretches back to Stalin's deportations during World War Two - have formed an alliance to oppose any move back towards Moscow.
Russia, along with the US, UK and France, pledged to uphold the territorial integrity of Ukraine in a memorandum signed in 1994.
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By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
updated 4:58 PM EST, Thu February 27, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: About 150,000 personnel are participating in the exercises, Russia says
- U.S. has not yet seen signs Russian forces are prepping for a move into Ukraine
- But a senior administration official says military exercises are raising concerns
- "Let's see no provocative actions by anyone," U.S. defense secretary says
Washington (CNN) -- Russian military exercises near Ukraine are raising concerns that Moscow may be putting troops in position to move across the border if such orders are issued, a senior U.S. official familiar with the most recent administration assessment told CNN Thursday.
But the United States still believes that Russia doesn't plan to order its forces into its tumultuous neighbor, the official said on the condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials -- who are monitoring the area 24 hours a day -- have not yet seen signs that Russia is preparing to secure supply and transportation routes that would be crucial to any such movement, the official said.
Russian military activity levels observed by the United States also "appear to be within normal range," the official said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov offered reassurances Thursday to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that the exercises were previously planned and were not being carried out because of the upheaval in Ukraine, echoing an earlier conversation between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said the combat readiness evaluation is being carried out in territory overseen by the western and central military commands. That puts some of the exercises near the Ukraine border.
"All in all, about 150 thousand military personnel of different services of the armed forces and military commands are involved in the check," Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said in a statement released by the ministry. "Up to 90 planes, more than 120 helicopters, up to 880 tanks, over 1,200 defense equipment units and about 80 ships will be used."
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters Thursday in Brussels, Belgium, where he was meeting with NATO defense ministers, that the United States was following the developments in and around the Ukraine.
Tensions rise over Crimean peninsula
"Until we really know more details -- what's really happening there, who is in charge, I think the focus should be ... let's keep the tensions down. Let's see no provocative actions by anyone, any military," he said.
One concern is that with Russian troops out of their garrisons near Ukraine, they could be in a position to move swiftly across the border -- leaving little time for U.S. officials to try to mount diplomatic efforts to stop them, the official said.
But, for now, U.S. officials believe Putin is using the hastily ordered exercises only as a message to U.S. and Ukrainian officials that he has the ability to move his military into Ukraine to protect Russian interests if he chooses to, the official said.
Russia has significant interests in Ukraine. Not only does it neighbor Ukraine, the two countries are major trading partners. Many ethnic Russians live in Ukraine's east, and Russia has a major military base at Sevastopol, Ukraine.
Russian officials have complained that opposition figures who have taken control of Ukraine's government are threatening pro-Russian Ukrainians.
The United States is reviewing Russian tactics in its 2008 move into Georgia for clues about how Moscow might act in this instance.
In that incident, Russian forces fought troops from Georgia in a brief conflict that followed Russian promises to defend Russian citizens in the restive Georgian province of South Ossetia.
U.S. officials worry about a repeat of that incident, in which both sides perceived provocative actions and Russia finally moved in on a large scale.
Any military intervention by Russia would be a "grave mistake," Kerry warned Wednesday.
"For a country that has spoken out so frequently in the last year ... against foreign intervention in Libya, Syria, elsewhere, it would be important for them to heed those warnings as they think about options in the sovereign nation of Ukraine," he said.
CNN's Ingrid Formanek and Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report from Kiev.
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