Officers from the Ukrainian navy ship Ternopil board a boat in front of the Russian navy ship minesweeper Turbinist, anchored at the harbor of Sevastopol, in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Lawmakers on the Crimean Peninsula voted Tuesday for independence from Ukraine ahead of a referendum this weekend on joining Russia, while Washington rebuffed talks with Moscow in one of their fiercest clashes since the Cold War. The strategic region’s self-declared rulers are recruiting volunteers to fight Ukrainian soldiers, while Russia’s parliament prepares legislation that would simplify the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea after the weekend’s vote. |
