Feb. 27: Masked gunmen seize regional parliament and government buildings in Crimea.
Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/timeline-key-events-in-ukraine-s-political-crisis-1.1711475#ixzz2vDdvFpRS
Witnesses said the gunmen in Simferopol, the Crimean regional capital, wore unmarked camouflage uniforms and carried rocket-propelled grenades, sniper rifles and other weapons. They raised the Russian flag over the local parliament building.
The men did not immediately voice any demands and threw a flash grenade in response to a journalist's questions. They wore black and orange ribbons, a Russian symbol of the victory in World War II, and put up a sign reading "Crimea is Russia."
"Our activists were sitting there all night calmly, building the barricades," he said. "At 5 o'clock unknown men turned up and went to the building. They got into the courtyard and put everyone on the ground.
"They were asking who we were. When we said we stand for the Russian language and Russia, they said: 'Don't be afraid. We're with you.' Then they began to storm the building bringing down the doors," he said. "They didn't look like volunteers or amateurs; they were professionals. This was clearly a well-organized operation."
In a statement, the local government said Crimean Prime Minister Anatoly Mogilyev had tried to negotiate with the gunmen but was told "they were not authorized to negotiate and present demands."
On February 27, 2014, during the 2014 Crimean crisis, Refat Chubarov, leader of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and member of the Council of Ministers of Crimea, said that unknown gunmen seized the Building of the Supreme Council of Crimea (the Parliament) on Karla Marksa Street and the building of the Council of Ministers on Kirova Avenue in Simferopol.[7]
Fifty gunmen occupied the building of the Crimean legislature, barricaded the building and installed machine guns at the front entrance. They allowed entrance to the Speaker of the Parliament and some members of legislature, but denied entrance to officials of the executive office.[8]
Under siege, and in violation of all due process,[8] the Supreme Council of Crimea held an emergency session and passed a motion of no confidence in the Council of Ministers and adopted a resolution to terminate its powers.[7] The parliament dismissed the Chairman and Prime Minister, Anatolii Mohyliov pursuant to Article 136 of the Constitution of Ukraine, and replaced him with Sergey Aksyonov, a known member of organized crime.[8] They voted to hold a referendum on the independence of Crimea on May 25.[9]
Olha Sulnikova, head of information and analysis department of parliament, reported on the phone from inside the parliamentary building that 61 of the registered 64 deputies had voted for the referendum resolution and 55 for the resolution to dismiss the government.[12]
Interfax-Ukraine reported "it is impossible to find out whether all the 64 members of the 100-member legislature who were registered as present, when the two decisions were voted on or whether someone else used the plastic voting cards of some of them" because due to the armed occupation of parliament it was unclear how many members of parliament were present.[12]
Enver Abduraimov, member of the parliament presidium, said that he did not go inside when he saw that raiders who secured the building were confiscating all communications devices from deputies. Andriy Krysko, head of the Crimean branch of the Voters Committee of Ukraine, announced that no one from the parliament secretariat was in the building when voting took place.