Russian Forces Attack Simferopol Military Unit; 1 Injured, According To Reports | Zero Hedge

Russian Forces Attack Simferopol Military Unit; 1 Injured, According To Reports | Zero Hedge.

It seems, despite all the market’s belief that Putin would go quietly into the night once more, that the situation is escalating:

• *GUNMEN STORM UKRAINE ARMY INSTALLATIONS IN CRIMEA: UKRAINE DEFMIN SELEZNYOV
• *GUNMEN STORMING CRIMEA BUILDINGS SHOOTING IN AIR: SELEZNYOV
• *UKRAINIAN OFFICER WOUNDED BY LIVE AMMUNITION, HAYDUK SAYS
• *ATTACKS ON UKRAINIAN UNITS INCREASING: NAVY CHIEF HAYDUK

Of course, the big question now is how will Ukraine respond? Because attacking (and injuring) citizens sure seems like a red-line someone should not be crossing (although, as per the referendum, that region is now Russian).

#Crimean unit under attack is the photogrammetric center of the Chief Directorate of Operational Support of the Armed Forces of #Ukraine |PR

— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) March 18, 2014

BREAKING #Ukrainian military unit in #Simferopol under attack. #Russian snipers on the scene, one injured! -D.Tymchuk |PR News #Crimea

— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) March 18, 2014

Of course there is no confirmation that these are “Russian” troops per se but it is on the heels of news (via Slashdot) that:

this excerpt from The Examiner: “The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed March 16 the arrest of a group of Russians in the Zaporizhzhia (Zaporozhye) region of Ukraine. The men were armed with firearms, explosives and unspecified ‘special technical means’. This follows the March 14 arrest … of several Russians dressed black uniforms with no insignia, armed with AKS-74 assault rifles and in possession of numerous ID cards under various names. One of which was an ID card of Military Intelligence Directorate of the Russian armed forces; commonly known as ‘Spetsnaz’.

And the response by Ukraine has to be weighed based on this statement from the PM:

• *UKRAINE WON’T RECOGNIZE CRIMEA ANNEXATION, TURCHYNOV SAYS
• *UKRAINE SEEKS TO AVOID CRIMEA ESCALATION, HAYDUK SAYS
• *RUSSIAN TROOPS BLOCKING 38 UKRAINE UNITS IN CRIMEA, HAYDUK SAYS