The brink of war? Ukrainian officer killed at besieged Crimean army base

Russia's annexation of Crimea has resulted in a brief, but fatal, firefight.

By Dave Lancaster |

10:51 19 March 2014

The crisis in Crimea has escalated as a Ukrainian officer has been killed at a military base in Simferopol. A member of a local self-defence brigade was also shot and killed.

It's the first sign of bloodshed in the crisis and has resulted in Ukraine vowing to go to war to protect the Black Sea Peninsula after Russia made steps to seize it.

The Ukrainian base in the Crimean capital was stormed by armed men bearing a Russian flag. The Russians arrested most of the soldiers, killed one and injured another. It is unclear at this stage if the base was captured by Russian soldiers or pro-Kremlin militia troops.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said: "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."

Ukrainian troops have now been given the go-ahead to return fire with the defence ministry stating: "For their self defence and protection of their lives, Ukrainian servicemen...deployed in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea are allowed to use arms."

The shooting came hours after Russian President Putin signed a decree annexing Crimea - a move which the EU and US have criticised as an illegal move.

Ukraine has formed its own National Guard and unveiled its first 500 recruits.

Outside of the conflict, Britain has now halted all joint military operations with Russia and cancelled orders for arms exports as foreign secretary William Hague warns of a changing relationship.

Meanwhile an EU diplomat boldly stated that "We must find a solution to stop a return to the Cold War"

British PM David Cameron echoed the sentiment, stating: "The Russian moves were in flagrant breach of international law and send a chilling message across the continent of Europe."

"President Putin should be in no doubt that Russia will face more serious consequences."

Russia has also been cut out of the G8 summit which has now been rebranded as G7. The remaining members are United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, France, Italy and Canada.