SEIZURE OF PARLIAMENT
Early in the morning, the buildings of the parliament and government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea were occupied by people without insignia armed with automatic weapons. According to some Ukrainian deputies and the former head of the SBU, these people are Berkut employees from Crimea and other regions of Ukraine. Also, eyewitnesses do not exclude the possibility that these are Russian military men. Later, deputies were allowed into the parliament building, who held an extraordinary session. A decision was made “On the expression of no confidence in the Council of Ministers of the ARC and the termination of its activities”, the government of Anatoly Mogilev, who was inclined to submit to the new Kiev authorities, was dismissed. Deputy of the Supreme Council of Crimea, leader of the Russian Unity party Sergei Aksyonov was appointed to the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea by the decision of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The decision was not recognized by the Kiev authorities. Both Sergei Aksyonov and Chairman of the Crimean Supreme Council Vladimir Konstantinov said they still consider Viktor Yanukovych the legally elected president of Ukraine, through whom the Crimean authorities managed to negotiate assistance from Russia.
A WELL-PLACED ROADBLOCK
On the morning of February 27, another important event took place – checkpoints on the Perekop Isthmus and on the Chongar Peninsula, which control car traffic between the Crimean Peninsula and the Kherson region, were occupied by the Crimean “Berkut” fighters and their colleagues from other regions of Ukraine. As People’s Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Hennadiy Moskal stated, “they put up armored personnel carriers, put up grenade launchers, put up machine guns, machine guns and the like […] It’s impossible to enter the autonomy by other land routes, only by sea. Thus, Crimea is completely blocked”
TERROR ATTACK PREVENTION
On the night of February 27-28, 2014, the Crimean self-defense fighters managed to prevent a major terrorist attack on the peninsula. At one of the checkpoints, an attempt was suppressed to import into the territory of the autonomy an explosive with a capacity of 400 kilograms in TNT equivalent. The investigating authorities of the Kherson region of Ukraine, where the detainees were transferred, have not yet given a legal assessment of these facts.
