Fistfights broke out between pro- and anti-Russian demonstrators in Ukraine's strategic Crimea region on Wednesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered massive military exercises just across the border.
The tests of military readiness involve most of the military units in central and western Russia, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a televised statement. He said the exercise would "check the troops' readiness for action in crisis situations that threaten the nation's military security."
He did not specifically mention the turmoil in Ukraine, which is bitterly divided between pro-European western regions and pro-Russian areas in the east and south. Three months of protests forced pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych to go into hiding over the weekend as his foes set up an interim government.
In Crimea's regional capital of Simferopol, more than 10,000 Muslim Tatars rallied in support of the interim government. Waving Ukrainian flags, they chanted "Ukraine is not Russia!"
The tensions in Crimea — a peninsula jutting into the Black Sea that is strategically critical because it is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet — highlight the divisions that run through this country of 46 million after months of protests that ultimately forced the pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the capital. It also underscores fears that the country's mainly Russian-speaking east will not recognize the interim authorities' legitimacy.
"This is exactly what Kyiv is worried about — that the factionalism here in Crimea will break down and that Crimea will go back to Russia," CBC correspondent Susan Ormiston said from Crimea.
"Inside the parliament here, that's exactly what they're talking about this morning. Whether they want to and can go back to Russia."
Ormiston said the situation is very tense. While in the early going the crowds were of a similar size, the pro-Ukraine protesters now greatly outnumber the pro-Russia group.
"Moments ago, I saw a crowd of 10,000 move as one, just like a mob," Ormiston said. "They tried to storm the front of the parliament here ….They also tried to retake the ground where the pro-Russian protesters were standing."
Protesters shouted and punched one another, as police and leaders of both rallies struggled to keep the two groups apart.
'We are ready to fight for Ukraine'
Crimean Tatars took an active part in the protest movement against Yanukovych and harbour deep resentment against the Kremlin, having been deported en masse on the orders of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin during the Second World War.
"We will not let the fate of our land to be decided without us," said Nuridin Seytablaev, 54, an engineer. "We are ready to fight for Ukraine and our European future."
Nearby, separated by police lines, Anton Lyakhov, 52, waved a Russian flag. "Only Russia can defend us from fascists in Kyiv and from Islamic radicals in Crimea."
On Tuesday, a Russian lawmaker visiting Crimea said Moscow would protect the region's Russian-speaking residents, raising concern that Russia could be trying to justify military action.
'We expect Russia and all of our partners in the region to respect Ukraine's independence, its borders, and its right to self-determination.'- Canadian Conservative MP James Bezan
Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, on Wednesday dismissed claims that Russia could conduct a military operation in Ukraine. "That scenario is impossible," she said.
"Russia has been stating and reiterating its stance that we have no right and cannot interfere in domestic affairs of a sovereign state," said Matvienko, a close Putin ally who was born in western Ukraine. "We are for Ukraine as a united state, and there should be no basis for separatist sentiments."
Harper joined other Western leaders Tuesday in reaching out to Ukraine's yet-to-be formed transitional government, announcing that a high-level delegation would meet with the new leadership in Kyiv. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was to depart Wednesday with a group of parliamentarians and Ukrainian-Canadians bound for the capital.
Conservative MP James Bezan, who is secretary of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, is part of the delegation.
"What we're experiencing in Crimea right now in is a little bit disheartening, but I think we need to continue to reach out to everyone across Ukraine regardless of their ethnicity and let them know that Canada in particular, but [also] the world, stands with a united Ukraine,' he told CBC News Network on Wednesday morning.
Bezan said that Putin's order to Russian troops was not helpful.
"We expect Russia and all of our partners in the region to respect Ukraine's independence, its borders, and its right to self-determination," he said.
Riot police force ordered disbanded
Meanwhile, Ukraine's acting interior minister on Wednesday ordered the disbandment of a feared riot police force that many accuse of attacks on protesters during the country's three-month political turmoil.
Arsen Avakov wrote on his Facebook page that he has signed a decree to disband the force known as Berkut and said more detail would be announced later.
Anti-government protesters have blamed Berkut for violent attacks against peaceful demonstrators protesting authorities' decision to ditch closer ties with the European Union and turn to Moscow instead. Those attacks galvanized long-brewing anger against police and the protests quickly grew into a massive movement, attracting crowds exceeding 100,000 and establishing an extensive tent camp in the capital's main downtown square.
Protesters march in Kyiv's Independence Square on Wednesday, part of a three-month crisis that has gripped the entire country. Duelling protests have led to scuffles in the country's east. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)
The force, whose name means "golden eagle," consisted of about 5,000 officers. It was unclear Wednesday if its members would be dismissed or if they would be reassigned to other units.
Yanukovych and protest leaders signed an agreement last week to end the conflict that left more than 80 people dead in just a few days in Kyiv. Shortly after, Yanukovych fled the capital for his power base in eastern Ukraine but his exact whereabouts are unknown.
On Wednesday, Yanukovych's three predecessors as Ukraine's president issued a statement accusing Russia of "direct interference in the political life of Crimea."
The turmoil has raised concern that Ukraine is facing a split between Russian-speaking regions, which include Yanukovych's home area in the east, and the Ukrainian-speaking west.
Russian officials have voiced concerns that the protest movement in Ukraine is led by nationalists who are set on destroying the Russian culture and marginalizing the language in Russian-speaking areas.
To allay such concerns and show solidarity with their Russian-speaking countrymen, leading cultural figures in the western city of Lviv called on residents there to speak Russian on Wednesday. The call appeared to have had some effect.
"You can really hear a lot of Russian spoken on the streets of Lviv today, although it often leads to funny situations because Lviv residents hardly ever speak Russian," said Konstantin Beglov, who lives in the city and promoted the appeal on Facebook.
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