Only about a ninth of Ukrainian military personnel currently doing service in Crimea have made a decision to leave the peninsular, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Saturday.
“As of March 21, less than 2,000 out of 18,000 soldiers of
Ukrainian military forces, who are currently stationed in the
Republic of Crimea, have wished to leave for Ukraine,” says
the Ministry’s statement.
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has ordered the Black Sea
Navy to provide safe passage to Ukraine to those soldiers, who
made a decision to do so.
On Thursday, Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing the Crimean
military to serve in the Russian army, preserving the ranks they
had in the Ukrainian military forces.
Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea have actually been offered three
options: to swear allegiance to Russia, to receive Russian
passports and stay at the peninsular as civilians, or to leave
Crimea.
However, Russia's presidential envoy to Crimea, Oleg Belaventsev,
said that Ukrainian soldiers are unable to leave the peninsula
due to the actions of the coup-imposed government in Kiev.
According to the envoy, Ukrainian border guards unilaterally
blocked the border between Crimea and Ukraine in both directions
at about 14:00 GMT on Saturday.
“The aim of this provocation by the current authority in Kiev is
clear – to accuse the Crimean authorities of not letting people
out by force and intentionally creating tension at the
border,” Belaventsev said, as quoted by Russian news
agencies.
By closing the border, Kiev is, in fact, “torturing” its
own citizens who just want to leave Crimea, he stressed.
On Friday, Crimea and Sevastopol – which used to be part of
Ukraine – officially joined Russia, with president Putin signing
the finalizing decree.
Previously, Russian lawmakers ratified an international treaty
with Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which the sides signed at
the Kremlin on March 18.
Crimea’s rejoining of Russia was triggered by an armed coup in
Kiev, which saw democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovich ousted.
The uprising of the predominantly Russian-speaking region of
Crimea began after the new self-proclaimed authorities passed a
law revoking the regional status of the Russian language.
It resulted in a referendum in which 83 percent of the Crimean
population participated. An overwhelming majority of over 96
percent voted in favor of reunification with Russia.