Admiral Hayduk’s whereabouts remains unknown. The prosecutor’s office at Sevastopol denied reports that he was under arrest facing criminal charges; they also denied any knowledge that he had been taken out of the city.
Tonight, Ukraine’s acting President, Olexander Turchynov, gave the Crimean authorities three hours to release the navy chief and “ all other hostages”. It remained unclear what exactly he intended to do if they, and their Russian sponsors, failed to comply with the ultimatum. Events over the past weeks have highlighted Kiev’s impotence in this breakaway state now annexed by Russia.
Earlier the acting Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who had declared the confrontation had moved from a political to a military phase, said he was sending his deputy, Vitaly Yarema, and the acting Defence Minister, Ihor Tenyukh, to Crimea to “resolve the situation”. The state’s Prime Minister, Sergei Aksyonov, responded: “Nobody will let them in; they will be sent back.” And that was the end of that initiative.
Meanwhile, Admiral Hayduk’s opposite number in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Alexandr Vitko, visited the headquarters to resounding cheers. It is thought that other bases that had been holding out against the Russians may now be taken over. The storming of the Sevastopol base had been preceded by an attack on a mapping and navigation centre in the state capital, Simferopol, in which a Ukrainian officer had been killed and several others hurt.
By the end of the day, the naval installation at Yevpatoria was reported to have been taken by the Self-Defence Force. And the garrison at Perevalnoye was reportedly considering handing over the base. Some of those inside were said to be joining Crimea’s Moscow-controlled military; others planned to go to Ukraine.
Kiev and Moscow had supposedly agreed a truce over the bases until tomorrow. That appears to have been ignored, although the Russians and their paramilitary allies may overrun them once the deadline passes.
After the fatal shooting at the Sevastopol base on Tuesday, Mr Yatsenuyk accused Russia of committing “war crimes”. He said Ukrainian forces in Crimea had been authorised to open fire.
However, Ukrainian military commanders have repeatedly complained that they had received no guidance from Kiev while facing the Russian blockade, and there was little inclination to follow this sudden order to engage an adversary vastly superior in numbers and weaponry. At Sevastopol, Sergiy Bogdanov, a navy spokesman, said: “We are not using arms and we will not be doing so.”