The following compiled report is from Georges Carillet…(some named are redacted to limit risk)
 
Situation is extremely tense.

SEE: www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/russias-invasion-of-crimea-live-updates-338096.html

There is serious talk of war, for Russian troops in Crimea are trying to disarm the Ukrainian soldiers and police who will not answer to the self-appointed Simferopol government. Some have yielded. Some are standing their ground. An ultimatum was given that if the UA military did not stand down by 5 AM, the Russian military would storm them. It did not happen,yet. (See the link for details.)

The invasion was built on a lie or on false fears – – whatever the reality, it did not require more troops from Russia to handle it. But now it becomes more clear what Russia’s designs have been and are. Whatever bloodshed there has been thus far in the Eastern section of Ukraine, it is on Putin’s hands which have embolded the pro-Russian folks to rally against their country, Ukraine. And it is not clear if the leaders of that revolt are Russian citizens rather than Ukrainian ones. 

Lviv mayor addresses people of Crimea

March 2, 3 p.m. — Lviv mayor Andriy Sadoviy made video address to citizens of Crimea. Usually Ukrainian-speaking, Sadoviy recorded the address in Russian.

“Lately you were often told that armed exremists from western Ukraine will come and attack your cities and therefore Russian army must be allowed in Ukraine to ensure your safety. If you believed it, I ask you to listen to me. All that Lviv wants now is peacefull development of Ukraine,” Sadoviy said.

“But guns of foreign armies will never bring us progress,” he added.

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Some of friends are talking about evacuating Crimea for Western Ukraine. Z and S K asked A if they could take a vehicle!

I am so torn.

Georges

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March 2, 1:43 p.m. — Andriy Parubiy, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said thatmobilization stations across Ukraine are caling in Ukrainian military reservists. “We ask all those called to show up at the stations,” Parubiy said. — Olga Rudenko

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March 2, 1:30 p.m. Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said today:

“The situation is very serious. The Russian army is blocking military bases of Ukraine in Crimea. They put an ultimatum demanding that our soldiers disarm themselves or the bases will be stormed. The deadline time was 5 a.m. today.They didn’t start storming the bases on 5 a.m., but the situation is still tense there. I couldn’t reach (Russian President Vladimr) Putin or (Russian Prime Minister Dmytry Medvedev), but I talked (on the phone) to Russian parliament speaker Sergey Naryshkin. I told him that the Ukrainian army is protecting its bases and acts under the laws of Ukraine. Their aim is to stop Ukraine’s economy and to start chaos. That is why they try to start panic.” — Olga Rudenko

“In three locations, Russian soldiers didn’t just block, but came in. They suggested that the military personnel give up arms.” The same happened with Ukrainian police units, he said. 

Nemyria said the Kremlin has “Russian citizens in Ukraine’s privinces orchestrating illegal sizure of adminstration buildings.” He said the Russian citizens were working in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Mykolayiv on March 1. — Oksana Grytsenko 

March 2, 1:17 p.m. — Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, at a press conference today, said in describing the situation in Crimea in which Russian troops are now in charge of the peninsula: “This is actually a declaration of war to my country. We urge (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to pull back his troops from this country and honor bilateral agreements. If he wants to be the president who started the war between two neighboring and friendly countries, he has reached his target within a few inches. We are on the brink of disaster.

“President Obama told President Putin that, if Russia has concerns about the treatment of ethnic Russian and minority populations in Ukraine, the appropriate way to address them is peacefully through direct engagement with the government of Ukraine and through the dispatch of international observers under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As a member of both organizations, Russia would be able to participate. President Obama urged an immediate effort to initiate a dialogue between Russia and the Ukrainian government, with international facilitation, as appropriate. The United States is prepared to participate.

Holly Paluck · University of Victoria

My views are that a propaganda machine requires expensive and dramatic feeds to continue operating for the benefit of the very desperate dictator. The last 3 months Russian-controlled media has told its audiences that Ukrainian protestors are fascists, were shooting at Yanukovych, and that the country is in chaos and that Russian people are in grave danger. Russia’s power is based on an illusion to serve Putin’s desire to enslave and profit from the relationship. Why would he need Ukrainian Berkut enough to give them passports for Russia? 300 Russian protestors have already been detained within its own boundaries for protesting against their own government. Russia has been preparing for this since Yanukovych failed Putin. There are so many possibilities of how this will backfire on Russia (including a protest movement within Russia), that the invasion of Ukraine shows just how desperate Putin is at this time.