Via AP:

Ukraine’s mission to the United Nations claimed Monday that 16,000 Russian troops have been deployed in the strategic Crimea region, while Russia’s U.N. ambassador told an emergency Security Council meeting that Ukraine’s fugitive president requested them.

A letter from Ukraine’s U.N. mission circulated during the latest emergency council meeting, where the Ukrainian ambassador again pleaded for international help.

Russia’s U.N. ambassador,Vitaly Churkin, told the council that fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych requested Russia’s armed forces to establish law and order. Yanukovych fled the former Soviet republic to Russia after his ouster and had said Friday that he would not ask for Russian forces.

Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador, said: “One might think that Moscow has just become the rapid response arm of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.”