Russia has sent in thousands of extra troops in Crimea, says Ukraine

Ukraine’s defence minister said on Saturday Russia had “recently” brought 6,000 additional personnel into Ukraine and that the Ukrainian military were on high alert in the Crimea region. Ihor Tenyukh gave no further details in comments to reporters in Kiev. The Ukrainian government has accused Moscow of deploying troops in Crimea, where Russia’s Black Sea fleet has a base, but Russia says it has not violated an agreement with Ukraine that covers its forces there. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s prime minister said on Saturday his country would not be drawn into a military conflict by Russian “provocations” in the Crimea region and appealed to Moscow to halt military movements there. [caption id=“attachment_1414141” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Armed men patrol around the regional parliament building in the Crimean city of Simferopol. Reuters[/caption] “It is unacceptable when armoured Russian military vehicles are out in the centre of Ukrainian towns,” Arseny Yatseniuk said before a government meeting in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Russia, which has a naval base in Crimea, says any movements by its military in Crimea are in line with agreements with Ukraine. Reuters