On Tuesday, armed pro Russian militias attacked a Ukrainian military base in Simferopol. A Ukrainian soldier was killed, two more were injured, and a fourth was kidnapped. The incident marked the first military causality of the Crimea conflict.
In response to the attack, Ukraine's government authorized troops to fire their weapons in self defense. Previously, they had not been allowed to, as the country tried to avoid heightening tensions.
Sunday saw a vote pass for Crimea to leave Ukraine and join Russia. Russia praised it as a sign that Crimeans wished to rejoin Russia, bragging about it's ninety-seven percent yes votes. However, with only a fifty-six percent turnout it would seem the vote wasn't truly that successful.
The international community has condemned the vote, calling it illegal. Only Russia is accepting the vote as having any bases. Much of the world notes that as many as fifty thousand Russian troops were in Crimea, for the vote. It is also noted that pro Russian militias stationed themselves inside most polling posts.
Sanctions were announced, on Monday, by the US, EU, and other nations. However, the sanctions are severely limited and do nothing to make Russia even pause from keeping Crimea.
On Saturday, Russian forces went north of Crimea and seized the village of Strilkove for a time. They eventually pulled back, but set up shop around and inside the village's natural gas production buildings. Ukrainian troops have since made entrenchments and other defense inside the village to block any further Russian incursions.
Ukraine has called up all of it's reserves, in case Russia attempts to push further into the country. Nearly two thousand Russian troops are setup right on the eastern border. Around two hundred thousand more are conducting maneuvers just a few hours further east. No military aid is expected from Europe, should Russia advance.
