Ukraine officials denied Crimea entry; base taken

Ukraine officials denied Crimea entry; base taken

SEVASTOPOL, Crimea (AP)— Authorities in Crimea denied entry to Ukraine’s defense minister and another official today when they tried to travel to the peninsula to defuse tensions, a Russian news agency reported, as militiamen stormed the Ukrainian navy’s headquarters and took it over. The several hundred militiamen who captured the base in Sevastopol didn’t meet any resistance. Sevastopol is also the home port of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and tens of thousands of Russian-led troops are now patrolling Crimea.