Al Jazeera Reports from Crimea: Russian-Linked Forces Take Regional Parliament Building

The Doha-based news network Al Jazeera, reporting from inside Crimea where Russian forces and unaffiliated armed militants allegedly linked to Russia have taken control of a variety of important installations, revealed on Friday that armed gunman have taken control of the regional parliament building in Simferopol. That city, the regional capital of the autonomous Ukrainian Republic of Crimea, is located approximately 80 kilometers from Sevastopol, a port city situated on the Black Sea where Russia maintains a large naval base.

RELATED: WATCH: The Russian Invasion of Ukranian Crimea Begins

“This, it seems, may now be the new normal in Crimea, a place almost all under Russian control,” on Al Jazeera reporter noted, observing that security forces are doing their best to keep press away from areas under control of the unaffiliated armed forces capturing sites across the region. “And for all the loud complaints from Kiev, it appears there is absolutely nothing they can do about it.“

A Ukrainian minister of parliament told Al Jazeera that Ukraine is not prepared to cede control of Crimea just yet. “I am not accept that Ukrainian government has lost control here,” said former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko. “What we cannot accept is a presence here of foreign troops.”

Watch the clip below via Al Jazeera:

[Photo via screen grab ]

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