<p>A day after a Ukrainian soldier was shot dead, pro-Russian forces seized the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Sevastopol Wednesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A large number of Ukrainian soldiers in Sevastopol have defected or deserted but there are some who say they would fight rather than leave their posts, the Guardian reported. <br />However, the situation Wednesday was further confirmation that few soldiers want to engage in a firefight with the Russians.<br /><br />Tuesday's casualty was the first casualty of Russia's annexation of Crimea. Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia would absorb Crimea into its fold.<br /><br />"We wanted to set free the prisoners in the base that are being illegitimately held there by their commander," Vladimir Melnik, who claimed he was the head of a local self-defence unit, was quoted as saying. <br /><br />He said a criminal case would be opened against the commander. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk Tuesday announced in Kiev that the conflict with Russia had moved to a "military phase".<br /><br />Arseniy also added that he was dispatching his deputy Vitaly Yarema, and the acting Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh, to Crimea to "resolve the situation".<br /><br />Putin, in his speech Tuesday, said Western politicians "call something white today and black tomorrow" and aired a long list of foreign policy grievances going back to 2000, saying "we were cheated again and again, with decisions being taken behind our back".<br /><br />US Vice President Joe Biden, during a visit to Poland Tuesday, said Putin and Russia stood alone and "naked before the world", guilty of international aggression.</p>
<p>A day after a Ukrainian soldier was shot dead, pro-Russian forces seized the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Sevastopol Wednesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A large number of Ukrainian soldiers in Sevastopol have defected or deserted but there are some who say they would fight rather than leave their posts, the Guardian reported. <br />However, the situation Wednesday was further confirmation that few soldiers want to engage in a firefight with the Russians.<br /><br />Tuesday's casualty was the first casualty of Russia's annexation of Crimea. Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia would absorb Crimea into its fold.<br /><br />"We wanted to set free the prisoners in the base that are being illegitimately held there by their commander," Vladimir Melnik, who claimed he was the head of a local self-defence unit, was quoted as saying. <br /><br />He said a criminal case would be opened against the commander. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk Tuesday announced in Kiev that the conflict with Russia had moved to a "military phase".<br /><br />Arseniy also added that he was dispatching his deputy Vitaly Yarema, and the acting Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh, to Crimea to "resolve the situation".<br /><br />Putin, in his speech Tuesday, said Western politicians "call something white today and black tomorrow" and aired a long list of foreign policy grievances going back to 2000, saying "we were cheated again and again, with decisions being taken behind our back".<br /><br />US Vice President Joe Biden, during a visit to Poland Tuesday, said Putin and Russia stood alone and "naked before the world", guilty of international aggression.</p>