Update to this story.
Via Daily Mail:
Russia confirmed today it has massed thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine as the U.S. warned things could ‘get ugly fast’.
Russia’s defense ministry said massive artillery drills have been launched in its Southern Military District – which covers the border area – involving 8,500 troops and a large amount of hardware.
It coincides with war games conducted by the country’s Airborne Troops.
In a statement, the ministry said: ‘The main purpose of these actions is to completely check teamwork of the units and make them implement combat missions on an unknown territory.
‘The event involves some 8,500 artillery troops and a large number of rocket artillery systems, military and special hardware, including Grad-M, Uragan and Smersh multiple rocket launchers, Msta-S 152-mm caliber self-propelled howitzers, Nona artillery systems and Rapira 100-mm caliber anti-tank guns.’
In response, Ukraine’s parliament has voted to create a 60,000-strong National Guard to bolster the country’s defences.
Ukraine’s national security chief Andriy Parubiy said the Guard would be deployed to ‘ensure state security, defend the borders, and eliminate terrorist groups’.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also was talking tough, telling Congress: ‘It can get ugly fast if the wrong choices are made, and it can get ugly in multiple directions.’
Kerry will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday in London in a last-ditch effort to halt Sunday’s referendum in the Crimea.