“Crimea, rise up!” shouted the protesters who rallied in their hundreds Saturday in the capital of Ukraine’s flashpoint peninsula, waving Russian flags in a region that is slowly edging away from the control of Kiev’s new government.
Masked and helmeted pro-Russia militia patrolled outside Simferopol’s regional parliament building and flexed their muscle nearby on the streets of the city. Some wore uniform and wielded assault rifles but none sported any insignia.
Groups of pro-Russian militants, apparently unarmed but displaying a distinctively military sense of discipline, supported the militia in their deployment.
The Russian-speaking southern Crimea peninsula has been in flux since a bloody three-month uprising in Ukraine swept Moscow’s allies from power and brought in a pro-West leadership, angering giant neighbour Russia whose parliament on Saturday approved the deployment of troops in the ex-Soviet country.
Gun-toting militia believed to be under the control of Moscow seized government buildings in Crimea and took control of key airports in the region, prompting Kiev to denounce a Russian “armed invasion” — a dramatic statement that did nothing to ease tensions.
“Russia! Russia!” and “fascism will be defeated!” were some of the slogans in the day-long rallies Saturday.
In the front row of demonstrators was a man wearing military fatigues and a woolly hat, constantly taking on his mobile phone.
The previous day, this “retired army officer” had presented himself as a spokesman for a group of what he said were civilians who later moved in on the nearby airport along with other militia.
The procession walked past the interior ministry, where the Ukrainian flag had not been taken down yet but the pro-Russia camp was also firmly in control, adding to a sense of chaos in the southern city.
Crimea, where Moscow has stationed part of its navy for 250 years, was transferred to Ukraine by the Soviet leadership in 1954 but the mainly Russian-speaking territory has always remained close to its neighbour.
At Armyansk, the land chokepoint which commands access to the Black Sea peninsula, hundreds of pro-Moscow Cossacks from a nearby Russian town manned an improvised checkpoint.
But in the streets of Simferopol, not everyone was in agreement.
“They are bastards. I wonder who is pulling the strings but they need to be arrested. They are all armed,” said a 76-year-old retired officer, clenching his walking stick.
Many of the residents congregating in front of the parliament building to voice their support for Russian rule, though, argued that the militiamen — whoever they were — acted as a rampart against chaos.
“If they weren’t around, it would be much worse. It would be like Kiev,” said Andrei, a young student, in reference to clashes that left dozens dead in the Ukrainian capital last week and precipitated the dramatic political change in the country.
“We are very happy the Russians were able to do all this,” said 16-year-old Ekaterina Petrosevich, who had no doubt Moscow was supporting the militia.
“The most important thing is that it all took place without shots being fired and blood being spilled,” she said.
“I want us to be a part of Russia.”