Reuters
March 22, 2014
Russian troops have surrounded a Ukrainian airbase in Crimea and issued an ultimatum to forces inside to surrender, the deputy commander of the base in Belbek, near Sevastopol, said on Saturday.
The base, above which the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag was flying, is one of the few military facilities on Crimea still controlled by Ukraine after the annexation of the peninsula by Russian forces.
“The Russian troops at our aerodrome gave us an hour to surrender or they will start storming. We are going nowhere, let’s see what this storming is,” Oleg Podovalov told Reuters.
The ultimatum was due to expire at 0730 am ET, but there was no sign of the Russians moving in on the base.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!