
An armed man patrols at the airport in Simferopol, Crimea, on Friday.
Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili
Armed men occupied two key airports
in Ukraine's restive pro-Russia region of Crimea on Friday, a move that
Ukraine's interior minister called an "armed invasion and occupation" by
Russia, stirring already heightened tension in the country.
Soldiers
wearing camouflage and bearing automatic weapons took up positions at
Belbek Airport in Sevastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, and at
the airport in Simferopol, the region's capital,
Arsen Avakov
said.
He said the soldiers' uniforms bore no identifying marks "but they do not hide their affiliation with the Russian armed forces."
Unmarked
military vehicles lined the road leading to the Sevastopol airport.
Soldiers there refused to identify themselves and blocked anyone from
approaching the airport.
A spokesperson for Russia's Black Sea Fleet denied that soldiers from the base were involved in blocking the Sevastopol airport.
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