Russian troops flowing into Crimea

KIEV, Mar 3, (AFP): Russian troops and military planes were flowing into Crimea on Monday in violation of accords between the two countries, Ukrainian border guards said.

Over the last 24 hours, 10 Russian combat helicopters and eight military cargo planes have landed on the flashpoint Black Sea peninsula, the guards said in a statement, while four Russian warships have been in the port of Sevastopol since Saturday.

Kiev received no warning regarding the troop movements, even though that is required by the international laws regarding the stationing of Russia's Black Sea navy in Crimea.

Under these agreements, Ukraine should receive notice of any troop movements 72 hours in advance.

Crimea, which has housed Russian navies since the 18th century, has come under control of Russian forces and local pro-Kremlin militia, who have surrounded several Ukrainian military bases.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Igor Tenyukh has accused Russia of sending 6,000 additional troops into Crimea.

On Saturday, Russia's parliament gave President Vladimir Putin the green light to send troops to Ukraine, in a crisis that threatens to escalate into the worst since the Cold War.

Meanwhile:  The unrest in Ukraine is "the biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st century", British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday, as he warned Russia to back down in Crimea.

"It's difficult to rank these things but it's certainly the biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st century and it will require all our diplomatic efforts," Hague told BBC radio from Kiev, where he is meeting the interim Ukrainian government.

The British foreign minister urged Russia to pull back its forces in Crimea or face "significant costs".

Referring to the decision by Britain and other allies to pull out of preparatory talks on the G8 summit in Sochi this week, Hague said: "There are diplomatic measures which we have started on already.

"There are a range of other significant costs. I don't want to anticipate at the moment what those will be, those will be discussed among my fellow EU foreign ministers today. They are also for discussion with the United States, Japan, Canada, other nations.

"But be in no doubt that there would be such costs. The world cannot just allow this to happen. The world cannot say it's OK in effect to violate the sovereignty of another nation in this way."