Ukraine In Crisis

"They tried to get me to renounce my military oath to Ukraine and switch to the Russian army."
"As an officer with honour, I tell you I will stay."
"If there is an order, I will leave. If there is no order, I will stay."
"Then they applied psychological pressure, they didn't let me sleep, banging with their rifle-butts on the door."
"I feel good. I am in a fighting mood. What will I do now? First I will build up my strength, and then I will make a decision. Glory to Ukraine!"
Belbek air base commander Col. Yuliy Mamchur

Associated Press -- Col. Yuliy Mamchur

The Belbek air base commander is Ukraine's hero, for refusing to relent in his steadfast loyalty to his command and to Ukraine. When Russian-controlled forces attempted aggressive intimidation and threats he iterated and reiterated that honour compelled him to remain at his post, refusing to surrender the base he commanded to the invading Russian forces, despite Russia's annexation of Crimea.

His defiance gave heart to devastated Ukrainians and they celebrated his courage and determination. He was true to his soldier's oath, holding his unit in Crimea as long as he possibly could, until a final violent invasive force overran Belbek in numbers and with a level of force they were unable to counter.

They were in a difficult position; no orders had been received from Kyiv informing them of what their next steps should be. And then there were no next steps possible.

Col. Mamchur was taken away under arrest, for 'questioning'. That questioning represented five days of sustained intimidation, pressing him to defect from Ukraine and join his captors as one of them. There was no shortage, in fact, of Ukrainian military who did just that. Some among them, not wishing to leave Sevastopol or other areas of the Crimean peninsula where they had been stationed and lived with their families, opted to join the Russian forces.

In early March when Russian troops wearing unmarked uniforms surged into Crimea, Ukraine's military bases came under extreme pressure. And while the pressures mounted and the members of the military clung to their bases in defiance of Russian demands that they leave, the inexperienced government was unable to decide how to command their forces to respond.

But the ouster of Ukraine's military from Crimea isn't the only unexpected threat in a volatile climate arresting the attention of Ukraine's temporary government.

In Kyiv, the government is facing a crisis all its own, in a showdown with the nationalist group Right Sektor some of whose members armed with axes and clubs surrounded the Ukrainian Parliament in the last two days, with demands for the resignation of Ukraine's acting interior minister who authorized the arrest of one of the group's leaders, ultimately shot to death by security agents.

Masked, armed demonstrators threatening to storm the Ukrainian Parliament lends credence to Moscow's assertions of right-wing thugs roaming the Ukrainian capital, posing threats to people.

The Kremlin's charges that their approved, Russian-leaning President Viktor Yanukovych was removed in an illegal coup brought about by right-wing extremists with the encouragement of the West gained traction in Moscow with the Right Sektor involvement in the violent events that took place at the Maidan.

On Friday the Ukrainian Parliament voted to investigate the death of the Right Sektor leader, Oleksandr Myzychko, (ak Sashko Bely)shot to death in Rivne, when he resisted as law enforcement authorities attempted his arrest. They declined the demand, however, to propose the resignation of the interior minister Arsen Avakov, until the commission produces its report on the investigation into Bely's death.

Leaving the masked and armed Right Sektor members dissatisfied with the outcome of their demands not being met, to continue their intimidating picket, but agreeing not to assault parliament as previously threatened. For the time being, in any event.