FINANCIAL TIMES: Ukraine plunged further into crisis on Thursday after unidentified pro-Russian gunmen seized Crimea’s regional parliament, prompting legislators there to call a referendum on the autonomous peninsula’s future…
The developments came as Arseny Yatseniuk, Ukraine’s new prime minister, declared that tens of billions of dollars had been looted from the state and, in a statement released in Russia, Mr Yanukovich claimed he was still the country’s rightful president.
Hours after scores of armed men seized Crimea’s legislature, Vladimir Konstantinov, the Speaker, said an extraordinary parliament session had voted to hold a referendum on the peninsula gaining more autonomy on May 25 – the date already set for snap presidential elections across Ukraine.
Mr Yatseniuk told the national parliament as his government was sworn in that the country was “on the brink of collapse and being torn apart”. He called for members of the UN Security Council to preserve the nation’s territorial integrity… (more)
