The Russian amphibious ship Nikolai Filchenkov has crossed the Ukrainian border near the town of Feodosiya in the Crimea without Ukraine's permission and begun landing personnel and hardware at the naval training ground near Mount Opuk, Interfax news agency reports. In total, 142 marines and 28 pieces of military hardware from the Black Sea Fleet's 382nd Marine Battalion were landed on Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian authorities halted the operation and forced the ship to leave the country's territorial waters. The incident, which took place on Wednesday, has raised tensions between Russia and Ukraine who are seeking an agreement on the withdrawal of Russian naval forces from the Crimea. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry plans to present a letter to Russia's Charge d'Affaires Yevgeny Panteleyev, concerning the marines' actions, the ministry's press service has announced.
The head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Alexander Turchinov has lashed out at Russia over the incident. The lodgment of Russian naval forces is contrary to the national interests of Ukraine, he said. However, in compliance with a Russian-Ukrainian agreement on the Russian Black Sea fleet base in Sevastopol, Russian naval forces cannot be withdrawn before 2017. Earlier this month Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists that Russian forces were not going to leave the Crimea. "In 2013 we will start considering the prolongation of the terms of our stay in Sevastopol," he said.| "You'll pry those bases out of my cold, dead hands." |
A least eight Russian naval subdivisions are currently based in the Crimea. |