Not just Crimea…
Via BBC:
Russia’s upper house of parliament has approved President Putin’s request for Russian forces to be used in Ukraine.
He had asked that Russian forces be used “until the normalisation of the political situation in the country”.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, where many ethnic Russians live.
Kiev has reacted angrily to days of military movements in Crimea, accusing Moscow of trying to provoke the new government into an armed conflict.
Interim President Olexander Turchynov has called an emergency session of his security chiefs.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin submitted the request for troops “in connection with the extraordinary situation in Ukraine and the threat to the lives of Russian citizens”, the Kremlin said.
The BBC’s Richard Galpin in Moscow says it is potentially significant that the request was for deployment in Ukraine as a whole, and not specifically for flash-points such as Crimea.