SIMFEROPOL:
Crimea's pro-Russian authorities sought to boost their claim to break
from Ukraine on Monday as volunteer soldiers swore an oath of allegiance
in front of prime minister Sergei Aksyonov.
Clutching Kalashnikov
rifles to their chests and wearing fur-lined military fatigues, the 36
volunteers took their turns pledging to "defend the people of Crimea".
Before
a large crowd of assembled journalists, Aksyonov, wearing a
bullet-proof vest under his jacket and protected by two bodyguards,
thanked the volunteers for their "devotion in this difficult time".
"You
are now part of the bulwark defending the people of Crimea," he said.
He told journalists 186 volunteers had so far joined the new Crimean
"self-defence" units after pro-Moscow forces took power in the region
and announced their intention to join with Russia, with a referendum
planned for Sunday.
"We have no intention of going to war with
anyone," Aksyonov said. "We simply want to freely decide our own
destiny. That is why we created armed forces. After the referendum they
can be integrated into the Russian army."
Aksyonov said the
Ukrainian soldiers who remain in Crimea, most of them inside bases
surrounded by Russian troops, can join with pro-Russian forces or leave.
"After
the referendum they will have to leave or those who are citizens and
who want to could swear allegiance to the autonomous republic of Crimea
or the Russian Federation."
