Russians enter town north of Crimea, say Ukrainians

Russian troops seized a military hospital and a missile base in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea Monday, in the latest show of force in the battle for the country’s disputed future. Pro-Russian militias joined Russian troops in taking over the hospital in Simferopol — the region’s main administrative city — herding staff members into a hallway to apparently “meet the institution’s new directors,” Reuters reported, citing Interfax.

The report said 20 patients at the hospital are gravely ill. Russian soldiers disarmed servicemen at a Ukrainian Army missile base overnight Friday. Ukrainian military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov told a local TV station that some 200 troops approached the building and threatened to charge it if the Ukrainian soldiers refused to give up their weapons. Crimea’s parliament has set a March 16 referendum on joining Russia, which has been denounced by Ukraine’s government.

NATO will starts AWACS reconnaissance flights over Poland and Romania to help monitor the crisis in Ukraine, the alliance said Monday, according to Reuters. NATO ambassadors, acting on a recommendation from NATO’s top military commander U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, approved the flights Monday, a NATO spokesman said.