MOSCOW — Ukraine's ambassador to Russia and a deputy Russian foreign minister held a "cordial" meeting on Saturday, Moscow said, without giving details of any discussion of Russian-occupied Crimea. District Rate Kaski 069-70_
Envoy Vladimir Yelchenko met deputy minister Grigory Karasin, the Russian foreign ministry said, and "issues of Russo-Ukrainian relations were discussed in a cordial atmosphere."
Russia has denounced the overthrow of Ukrainian President President Viktor Yanukovich in mass protests last month as a coup, and declared the country's interim leadership illegitimate.
Russia has seized control of Crimea, a Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula with a Russian-speaking majority, where overnight confrontations between Russian troops and besieged Ukrainian soldiers raised tensions further on Saturday.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Friday that Ukraine was ready for talks with Russia, but Moscow must first withdraw its troops, abide by international agreements and halt its support for "separatists and terrorists."
He said he had requested a second telephone call with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The two premiers spoke on March 1, the only high-level contact between the countries since the crisis began.
A convoy of hundreds of Russian soldiers in 50 trucks and eight armored vehicles drove into a base near Crimea's capital Simferopol on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Russian troops reinforced their presence in Crimea overnight Friday as witnesses reported seeing another 200 military vehicles unload in Eastern Crimea, while unidentified soldiers seized a missile defense base, Reuters reported.
"Neither the equipment nor the paratroopers have insignia that identify them as Russian, but we have no doubt as to their allegiance," Selenyov told The Associated Press.
Russia claims its only troops in Crimea are those usually stationed with the Black Sea Fleet, which Washington has dubbed “Putin’s Fiction.” The Pentagon estimates there are about 20,000 Russians in Crimea, while Kiev says there are 30,000.
DARKO VOJINOVIC / AP
A Ukrainian officer stands outside the gate of a military base at the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea, Ukraine,on March 8, 2014.
Lt. Col. Vitaly Onishchenko, deputy commander of the sieged base, said unmarked soldiers climbed the walls overnight and demanded that 100 Ukrainian troops swear allegiance to Russia.
Meanwhile, Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ruled out any dialogue with Ukraine’s weeks-old leaders, whom he called puppets.
No shots were fired in the standoff and no one appeared to be hurt, Reuters reported.
"Things are difficult and the atmosphere has got worse. The Russians threaten us when we go and get food supplies and point their guns at us," said Vadim Filipenko, the Ukrainian deputy commander at the base.
The show of force on Friday night was one of the largest since Russian military forces appeared in Crimea a week ago, according to the AP.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attained parliamentary approval to invade Ukraine one week ago. Crimea’s pro-Russian leadership decided Thursday that it is part of Russia and set a March 16 secession referendum for voters.
Two people listed as passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet were not on the plane and had their passports stolen, according to foreign governments and one relative.
Luigi Maraldi, 37, was the only Italian on a passenger manifest released by the airline after the jet disappeared over the South China Sea.
But his father, Walter Maraldi, told NBC News from Cesena, Italy: “Luigi called us early this morning to reassure us he was fine, but we didn’t know about the accident. Thank God he heard about it before us.”
The Associated Press quoted the Italian foreign ministry as confirming that account.
An Austrian was also on the passenger manifest, but Reuters and The Associated Press both quoted the Austrian foreign ministry as saying that he was safe in Austria. The ministry said that his passport was also stolen.
Both foreign ministries said that the passports were reported stolen in Thailand, the AP reported.
SIMFEROPOL — After weeks of lingering on the margins, pro-Ukrainian Crimean protesters came out in force Saturday in their first sizable demonstration since the peninsula’s parliament passed a controversial request to be folded into the Russian Federation.
About a hundred protesters waving Ukrainian flags, chanting “Glory to Ukraine!” and occasionally breaking out into stilted versions of the Ukrainian national anthem marched through the Crimean capital, Simferopol, on an overcast afternoon.
Along the way, they marched through a city park and stopped at a Ukrainian military base where soldiers handed flowers out to the women in the protest — a nod to today’s celebrations of International Women’s Day.
The protesters encountered no violence during the march, with groups of pro-Russian supporters conspicuously absent for much of it. The situation became tense though, when the demonstrators marched within a 100 feet of Crimea's parliament, where pro-Russian self-defense units and Cossacks linked arms and braced themselves to keep the demonstrators out of the compound.
ED FLANAGAN
Protesters in Simferopol on Saturday wave Ukrainian and Tatar flags, and signs that say, 'Crimea is Ukraine.'
But the demonstrators marched right by the parliament, their cheers and chants nearly drowned out by catcalls and chants of “Russia! Russia!” by the pro-Russian factions.
Pro-Russia hecklers later gathered at the end of the march, barking at demonstrators to “go back home to your broken city, Kiev,” among other expletives.
“From our side, we’re going to protest and show the world not everyone in Crimea supports Russia,” said Ismail Ismailov, 25, a small-business owner in Simferopol and a protest organizer. “Actually, I think it's only a small part of Crimea that actually supports reunification with Russia — it's just that faction is much louder and that’s why there is a feeling that Crimea is Russian.”
Asked whether he or the other demonstrators that day would participate in the controversial March 16 referendum on the future of Crimea, which the Ukrainian government has denounced, Ismail said absolutely not.
“We’re boycotting the referendum because the international community doesn’t accept it and we don’t accept it as well. It’s unconstitutional and blatantly illegal,” he said.
That was a sentiment shared by a 16-year-old student from Simferopol who also marched Saturday.
“Crimea is Ukraine and we don’t want any war with Russia,” said the teen, who only gave her name as Anna. “Russia is our brother and we don’t want war with them. But I want their troops to stop their intervention and leave, and for Crimea to stay Ukrainian and free.”
ED FLANAGAN
The first big street demonstration by about 100 pro-Ukrainian supporters march through a city park in Simferopol, Crimea, on Saturday.
