Crimea's Parliament Votes in Favour of Leaving Ukraine for Russia, Referendum Scheduled

The parliament, which enjoys a degree of autonomy under current Ukrainian law, voted 78-0 with eight abstentions in favor of holding the referendum and joining Russia. Local voters will also be given the choice of deciding to remain part of Ukraine, but with enhanced local powers.

Ukrainian foreign ministry official Yevhen Perebiynis described the move as being a coordinated action between Crimea’s parliament and Russia’s, the Interfax news agency reports, according to Reuters.

In other developments:

• Russia’s foreign ministry is continuing a war of words with the State Department over a statement released Wednesday that dismissed President Vladimir Putin’s claims on Ukraine as “fiction,” saying that Washington is unable to accept a crisis that is “developing not according to their templates.”
• A mission of observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were stopped by unidentified men in military fatigues and were told that they cannot enter Crimea, Poland Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said.
• Crimea’s vice premier has labeled Ukrainian forces as “occupiers” who must leave the region or surrender, according to Reuters.
• Ukraine’s interim government is declaring the referendum illegal, while opening a criminal investigation against Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Askyonov, Reuters reports.
• The White House is imposing visa restrictions on Russians and Crimeans who it says are "threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

Crimean Vice Premier Rustam Temirgaliev said the referendum will be held March 16. RIA reported that the referendum would consist of two questions. The first would ask whether voters wished to join Russia "as a subject of the [Russian Federation]." The second question would ask whether voters wished to remain a part of Ukraine but as an autonomous republic, as laid out in the country's post-Soviet 1992 constitution.

In Moscow, a prominent member of Russia's parliament, Sergei Mironov, said he has introduced a bill to simplify the procedure for Crimea to join Russia and it could be passed as soon as next week, the state news agency ITAR-Tass reported.

A referendum had previously been scheduled in Crimea on March 30, but the question to be put to voters was on whether their region should enjoy "state autonomy" within Ukraine.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Temirgaliev said, "From today, as Crimea is part of the Russian Federation, the only legal forces here are troops of the Russian Federation, and any troops of the third country will be considered to be armed groups with all the associated consequences."

Temirgaliev told the Interfax news agency that the region is ready to adopt Russian currency, according to Reuters. Crimea’s parliament has voted to set up interior, justice and fuel and energy ministries that are independent of Kiev, the BBC reports.

"This is our response to the disorder and lawlessness in Kiev," Sergei Shuvainikov, a member of the local Crimean legislature, told the Associated Press Thursday. "We will decide our future ourselves.”

The vote drew harsh criticism from acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov, who said the authorities in Crimea are “totally illegitimate.”

“They are forced to work under the barrel of a gun and all their decisions are dictated by fear and are illegal,'' his spokeswoman quoted him as saying, according to Reuters.

Ukraine’s interim Economy Minister, Pavlo Sheremeta, also cast doubt on the legality of the upcoming referendum.

"We're not working out what to do if Crimea joins the Russian Federation because we believe [the referendum is] unconstitutional,” he said, according the BBC.

The region has been a part of Ukraine since 1954, when Soviet ruler Nikita Khrushchev, himself of Ukrainian origin, formally transferred ownership of the region to Ukraine from Russia. In 1992, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Crimea briefly became an autonomous region before its parliament agreed to remain a part of Ukraine.

News of the referendum came as leaders of European Union nations were arriving in Brussels for an emergency summit on the ongoing crisis. British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters the purpose of the summit was threefold: to begin talks between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats, to show Ukrainians that Europe would "help the Ukrainian people in their hour of need," and send a "very clear message to Russia that what they are doing in unacceptable and will have consequences."

The leaders are deciding what sorts of sanctions sanctions they can impose on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, but Moscow has threatened to retaliate if any punitive measures are put in place.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in Brussels for the summit, said Russia was continuing to stir up trouble.

"We ask Russia to respond whether they are ready to preserves peace and stability in Europe or (whether) they are ready to instigate another provocation and another tension in our bilateral and multilateral relations," Yatsenyuk said.

In Simferopol, Crimea's capital, about 50 people rallied outside the local parliament Thursday morning waving Russian and Crimean flags. Among the posters they held was one that said "Russia, defend us from genocide."

In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, police on Thursday removed pro-Moscow protesters from the regional government’s building and took down a Russian flag that had been flying over it. More than 70 people were taken into custody for questioning and a protest leader in the city, Pavel Gubarev, was arrested in his apartment, according to the BBC.

Donetsk city police chief Maksim Kirindyasov said the protesters – who had occupied the building since Monday – did not resist removal and were “cleared in a matter of a few minutes,” Reuters reports.

Late Wednesday, Aksyonov told the Associated Press that 11,000 self-defense troops, all or most of whom are believed to be Russian, had joined with riot police and security forces to control all access to the strategic peninsula and had blockaded all Ukrainian military bases that have not yet surrendered. Aksyonov also said that his government was in regular contact with Russian officials. Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu have all denied sending troops into the region.

The West has joined the new Ukrainian leadership in demanding that Russia pull its forces from Crimea, but little progress was reported after a flurry of diplomatic activity Wednesday. U.S. and Western diplomats failed to bring Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers together for face-to-face talks on the confrontation in Crimea, even as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced optimism that an exit strategy was possible. Kerry is meeting with Lavrov again Thursday in Rome.