Ukraine's military says an officer
has been killed in an attack on a base in Crimea, the first such death since
pro-Russia forces took control in February.
It said all its troops at the
Simferopol base had been arrested.
The attack came shortly after
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Crimea signed a bill to
absorb the peninsula into Russia.
Western powers condemned the treaty
and a G7 and EU crisis meeting has been called for next week in The Hague.
The Ukrainian crisis began in
November last year after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych abandoned an EU
deal in favour of stronger ties with Russia. He fled Ukraine on 22 February
after deadly protests.
'Military stage'
The Ukrainian defence ministry said
a warrant officer who was on duty in a park inside the Simferopol base had been
killed and another serviceman injured.
Spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov told Reuters
the attack was by "unknown forces, fully equipped and their faces
covered".The Ukrainians had their IDs, weapons and money confiscated, he said.
Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told an emergency government meeting: "The conflict is shifting from a political to a military stage.
"Russian soldiers have started shooting at Ukrainian military servicemen and that is a war crime."
Reports from the Crimean news agency, Kryminform, said a pro-Russian defence force member had also been shot dead in a separate incident in Simferopol.
Neither of the deaths in the two incidents has been independently confirmed.
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