Russian troops storm three Ukrainian warships as Putin's plan to 'unleash full blown military intervention' sends shockwaves around the world

Pro-Russian forces also took control of three Ukrainian navy ships today



Ukraine's ambassador to the U.N has expressed fears Russia may be planning a further military incursion into Ukraine's territory

'Russia is on its way to unleash a full blown military intervention' - he said

Russian defence officials denied this in telephone call with Pentagon



EU leaders met in Brussels today to discuss their response to crisis

Placed travel bans and asset freezes on 12 more people with total now 33



'Some of them are really high-ranking' - EU President Herman Van Rompuy



Russia imposed entry bans on U.S. lawmakers and officials in retaliation



Ukraine has started to withdraw its troops from Crimea to the mainland amid fears Russia plans further military incursions into their territory after militiamen seized three Ukrainian ships today.



Russian troops have majority control of the Black Sea peninsula after storming three Ukrainian warships following the takeover of several military bases.

Shots were fired and stun grenades as the Ukrainian corvette Khmelnitsky was seized in Sevastopol while another ship, the Lutsk, was also surrounded by pro-Russian forces.

Ukrainian servicemen were also seen disembarking a third ship, the Ternopil corvette. There were not thought to be any casualties, however.



The action came hours before European Union leaders agreed to widen the list of Russian officials subject to personal sanctions over the seizure of Crimea - while asking the European Commission to prepare for broader economic sanctions if the crisis escalates.



Scroll down for video

Takeover: A man in an unmarked uniform and wearing a mask holds a gun as he climbs aboard the Ukrainian corvette Khmelnitsky in Sevastopol, Crimea

Raid: Pro-Russian militiamen seized three Ukrainian navy vessels in Crimea on Thursday - including the corvette Khmelnitsky in Sevastopol

Surrender: Ukrainian crew members pictured lying on the deck of the Khmelnitsky after it was seized in Sevastopol by pro-Russian troops

Men in unmarked uniforms stand guard during seizure of the corvette Khmelnitsky

A crew member of the Khmelnitsky leaves the ship with a collection of his belongings

Earlier today, the U.S. expanded economic sanctions against Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, targeting President Vladimir Putin's chief of staff and 19 other individuals. President Obama also warned of more costs to come is the situation worsens.

Ukraine said its troops are being threatened on the ground in Crimea today as naval headquarters in Sevastopol were taken over as was another naval facility 30kms away in Bakhchisaray.

Extraordinary scenes followed as downcast Ukrainian servicemen, unarmed and in civilian clothing, began abandoning the bases, some with 'nowhere to go' while others were reported to have already defected to Russian forces.

Masked men holding guns climb aboard the Khmelnitsky while two other warships were also seized

A man in an unmarked uniform stands guard during the seizure of the warship

Pro-Russian forces hang up a Russian flag after seizing ship in the peninsular

Ukrainian crew of Pridniprovya, right, leaves the ship after it was taken by pro-Russian forces

Out of Ukraine's 25,000 troops in Crimea, it is estimated there are still thousands who remain trapped in the region as Russian troops close in around them.



'We are working out a plan of action so that we can transfer not just servicemen, but first of all, members of their family who are in Crimea, quickly and effectively to mainland Ukraine,' said Andriy Parubiy, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council.

Terms and conditions of the withdrawal have yet to be agreed but Ukrainian border guards in Crimea, under the control of Russia's military, have started redeploying to regions on the mainland.



'We have started the gradual redeployment of our servicemen to the territory of Kherson and Mikolayiv regions,' Pavlo Shysholin, deputy head of the state border guard service, told a news conference.

Packing up: A Ukrainian air force officer carries his bags out of the Belbek airbase, outside Sevastopol, Crimea, on Thursday as Kiev announced plans to withdraw 25,000 troops from the peninsula

Evacuation: Ukrainian air force officers are pictured removing their belongings the Belbek airbase, outside Sevastopol, on Thursday as many troops have reportedly defected to Russian forces

Time to go: Ukrainian air force officers leave the Belbek airbase, outside Sevastopol, Crimea, with their belongings on Thursday as pro-Russian troops close in on the peninsula

Shut out: A soldier closes the gate at the Belbek airbase in Crimea on Thursday as thousands of Ukrainian troops and sailors remain trapped in the region

PICTURED: THE FIRST SOLDIER KILLED IN THE CRIMEA CRISIS

Victim: Ukrainian Warrant Officer Kokurin Serhiy, 37, became the first fatal casualty of the Crimea crisis when he was shot on Monday Warrant Officer Kokurin Serhiy, 37, became the first fatal casualty of the Crimea crisis when he was shot dead on Tuesday. The chief of logistics, who was born in Simferopol, was at his post in a watchtower at a military base in Simferopol, Crimea, when he was shot through the heart and in the head.

The Ukraine Ministry of Defence claimed he was fired upon by a militiamen who were wearing military uniform of Russian servicemen but without any insignia.

His death prompted the Ukraine Ministry Of Defence to allow troops the use of arms to defend themselves.

Officer Kukurin's fellow soldiers today paid tribute to the 'realiable friend' who leaves behind a four-year-old son and seven-month pregnant wife.

A statement read: 'He was modest and handsome, a hard-working and skillful specialist, and reliable friend.

'Kokurin Serhiy was many times awarded distinctions by the Minister of Defense, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces of Ukraine.

'He was a strong support for his mother, good brother, kind husband, attentive father for his son. His wife is waiting for birth of baby in two months.

'The personnel of the 13th Photogrammetric Center of Central Directorate of Operations Support of Armed Forces mourns for decease of their friend Serhiy Kokurin.'



Shysholin also said about 1,000 civilians had so far left the peninsula.

Meanwhile Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Yurii Klymenko, has also expressed concerns that Russia may be intending a further military incursion into Ukraine territory.

He said: 'There are indications that Russia is on its way to unleash a full blown military intervention in Ukraine's east and south '.

His statement was widely supported by other ambassadors, but challenged by a Russian diplomat, who read a prepared statement justifying Russia's actions so far.



Russia's defense minister assured US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel by telephone that Russian forces along Ukraine's eastern border have no intention of crossing into Ukrainian territory.



A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, said that in an hour-long conversation Thursday, Hagel asked for an explanation of Russian intentions for the thousands of troops positioned near the Ukrainian border.



Kirby said Hagel was told that the troops are there for just one purpose: to conduct training exercises.



Another base taken over: A Ukrainian serviceman leaves a military unit in Bakhchisarai, outside Simferopol, on Thursday after it was seized by Russian troops on Wednesday night

Peaceful: Ukrainian servicemen smile as they peacefully carry their belongings out of a Ukrainian military unit taken over by Russian soldiers in Bakhchisarai

Concerns: A Russian soldier patrols the entrance to the Ukrainian military unit in Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, amid fears Russia may push further into Ukraine territory

Civil: Russian and Ukranian soldiers talk at the gate of a Ukrainian military unit in the village of Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, on Thursday

This morning, Ukrainian troops at Belbek airbase in the wine-growing country near Crimea's southwestern coast were leaving with large bags containing their belongings.



They weren't evacuating, they said, just transferring their things to a safe place as they were worried that pro-Russian mobs might loot the facility, which they heard happened the day before in nearby Sevastopol.

Since the Russian forces took charge in Crimea, Ukrainian-enlisted personnel and officers have been bottled up in barracks and other buildings at one end of the Belbek base, with the Russians in control of the airfield.

'We're waiting for what Kiev, our leadership, tells us,' said one major, who declined to give his name.



The major said he expected about half of the personnel still at the base to accept the Russian offer to stay and join the Russian armed forces since they are Crimea natives.



U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was 'deeply concerned' by the situation involving Ukraine and Russia.



Ban is on a visit to both nations to encourage all parties involved in the crisis over Ukraine and its Crimea region, which Western nations say Russia has illegally annexed, to find a peaceful solution.

Talks: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday

Concerned: Ban Ki-moon told Putin on Thursday he is 'deeply concerned' by the stand-off between Russia and Ukraine

EU leaders met in Brussels today to discuss how to deal with the developments in Crimea.

Travel bans and asset freezes were placed on 12 more people, closing in on President Vladimir Putin's inner circle to punish him in the escalating crisis over the Russian annexation of the Crimea peninsula.



The move brought the number of Russians and Ukrainians facing EU sanctions to 33, and French President Francois Hollande said it included a lot of crossover with the people the United States is targeting with similar measures.



'We added 12 people, in concert with the Americans,' Hollande said.



The 28-nation bloc said the names of the sanctioned would be published Friday. 'Some of them are really high-ranking,' said EU President Herman Van Rompuy.



Germany's Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to support Ukraine's new government financially, provided it reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund, which she said talks had made substantial progress and a deal was expected soon.



RUSSIA IN RETALIATION

Russia slapped a travel ban Thursday on nine U.S. lawmakers and officials - the first retaliation against the United States for its sanctions against Russia for annexing Crimea. They were:



- Caroline Atkinson, a deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs.

- Daniel Pfeiffer, a senior adviser to Obama.

- Benjamin Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser.

- John Boehner, a Republican congressman from Ohio.

- Harry Reid, a Democratic senator from Nevada.

- John McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona.

- Robert Menendez, a Democratic senator from New Jersey.

- Dan Coats, a Republican senator from Indiana.



She told a news conference after the first day of the summit the EU was prepared to send an observer mission to Ukraine but would prefer the pan-European security watchdog OSCE to send monitors if Russia will agree on a mandate.



Merkel declined to say how many names would be added to the EU blacklist of people subject to visa bans and asset freezes on Friday but said they were of the same level as the 21 mid-ranking Russian and Crimean officials sanctioned last week.



Ahead of the EU leaders' meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union will impose more sanctions on Russia and that the G8 forum has been suspended indefinitely.



The United States and its G7 allies will gather next week in The Hague without Russia to consider a further response to the Kremlin's moves in Crimea.

But President Barack Obama HAS already stepped up pressure on Russia by announcing further sanctions on Russia on Thursday.

The U.S. expanded economic sanctions against Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, targeting President Vladimir Putin's chief of staff and 19 other individuals.

The new American sanctions hit close advisers to Putin. They include Sergei Ivanov, the Russian president's chief of staff and a longtime associate.



Also targeted were Arkady Rotenberg and Gennady Timchenko, both lifelong Putin friends whose companies have amassed billions of dollars in government contracts.



Finally, Bank Rossiya, a private bank that is owned by Yuri Kovalchuk, who is considered to be Putin's banker was also sanctioned.



Obama, warning of more costs to come for the Kremlin if the situation worsens, said he also signed an executive order that would allow the U.S. to penalize key sectors of the Russian economy.

Announcement: President Barack Obama reveals additional sanctions against Russia on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Thursday

President Barack Obama announced a new round of economic sanctions on individuals in Russia, both inside and outside the government, in retaliation for the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine

Officials said Obama could act on that authority if Russian forces press into other areas of Ukraine, an escalation of the crisis in Crimea.



The president said the latest penalties were the result of 'choices the Russian government has made, choices that have been rejected by the international community'.



'Russia must know that further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community,' Obama said, speaking from the South Lawn of the White House.



Yuri Kovalchuk is thought to be Putin's banker who was also sanctioned by the US today

Surrounded: Russian naval vessels block the Ukrainian ship Slavutich (pictured left) at her mooring in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Thursday A boat transporting the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Aleksandr Vitko moors up alongside Slavutich, the command ship of the Ukrainian Navy Shaking hands: Russian officers meet Ukrainian colleagues on the ship Slavutich in Sevastopol Going nowhere: The Ukrainian ship Slavutich was left trapped at her mooring in Sevastopol after being cut off by Russian vessels

Russia then announced retaliatory sanctions on nine U.S. officials and lawmakers on Thursday, warning the West it would hit back over 'every hostile thrust'.



Deputy national security advisers Ben Rhodes and Caroline Atkinson and senators John McCain, Harry Reid and Mary Landrieu, Dan Coats and Robert Menendez were among the Americans barred from Russia, the Foreign Ministry said.



The others were House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and Dan Pfeiffer, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama.



'We have repeatedly warned that sanctions are a double-edged instrument and would hit the United States like a boomerang,' the Russian Foreign Ministry said. 'There must be no doubt: We will respond adequately to every hostile thrust.'



It comes after Obama ruled out U.S. military involvement in Ukraine on Wednesday night - emphasizing the need for diplomacy in the U.S. standoff with Russia over Crimea.



'We are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine,' Obama told KNSD, San Diego's NBC affiliate, in an interview.



'We do not need to trigger an actual war with Russia,' he told KSDK, a St. Louis station owned by Gannett in a separate interview.



Obama, who imposed sanctions on 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials on Monday, said the United States will push diplomatic efforts to bring pressure on Russia to loosen its grip on the Crimea region of southern Ukraine.



'There is a better path, but I think even the Ukrainians would acknowledge that for us to engage Russia militarily would not be appropriate and would not be good for Ukraine either,' Obama told KNSD.



His comments coincided with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden reassuring Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia that America will defend any NATO member against aggression.

Trapped: The Ukrainian ship Ternopil is seen in the harbour in Sevastopol as a Russian ship blocks its exit

Supplies: A Ukranian sailor carries bread on board the Ternopil ship still moored in the dock at Sevastopol which is now under Russian control

Ukrainian sailors pictured collecting bread for their ship the Ternopil in Sevastopol. It comes as the legal process required to make Crimea part of Russia will be completed this week

The three countries - which like Ukraine were all parts of the old Soviet Union - have expressed growing apprehension over Moscow's intentions.

Poland has decided to speed up its tender for a missile defence system, a defence ministry spokesman said on Thursday, in a sign of Warsaw's disquiet over the tension between neighbouring Ukraine and Russia.



Russia signaled concern on Wednesday at Estonia's treatment of its large ethnic Russian minority, comparing language policy in the Baltic state with what it said was a call in Ukraine to prevent the use of Russian.



Russia has defended its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula by arguing it has the right to protect Russian-speakers outside its borders, so the reference to linguistic tensions in another former Soviet republic comes at a highly sensitive moment.



But Vice President Biden assured the Baltic republics: 'We're in this with you, together.'

The three countries were overrun by Stalin during the Second World War and only won their freedom with the collapse of the Soviet Union.



Biden added: 'Russia cannot escape the fact that the world is changing and rejecting outright their behaviour.'



Heavyweight boxing champion Vladimir Klitschko urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday not to 'repeat the mistakes of history' in his confrontation with Ukraine, the boxer's homeland.



Klitschko is the younger brother of Vitaly Klitschko, a member of parliament in Ukraine and a leader of the opposition that helped topple Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovich last month.



'You cannot repeat the mistakes of history and there were a lot of mistakes,' the 37-year-old boxing champ told reporters in his training camp in Hollywood, Florida, where the side of a ring was draped with a Ukrainian flag.



'Every country, every former Soviet republic has its own desire and will to look in the direction they want to look - east, west, south, north. It's their own decision,' he said.



Out in force: Russian soldiers patrol the area surrounding the Ukrainian military unit in Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, on Thursday

A civilian drives past Russian soldiers patrolling Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, near a Ukrainian military base. Russian forces now control much of the region

It comes after masked Russian-speaking troops forced their way onto Ukraine's main naval base in Sevastopol yesterday morning, detaining the head of Ukraine's navy and seizing the facility.



The incursion, which Ukraine's defence ministry described as being led by a self-described local defence force, Cossacks and 'aggressive women', proceeded with no resistance.

Upon gaining entrance to the base, the storming party raised a Russian flag on the headquarters square.



The unarmed militiamen waited for an hour on the square and, following the arrival of the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, they took over the building with the support of armed Russian-speaking troops.



By afternoon, they were in full control of the naval headquarters, a set of three-storey white concrete buildings with blue trim.

There was nothing we could do against the crowd,’ said one Ukrainian officer. ‘Everything happened spontaneously.’ Another officer said they had ‘no orders and no weapons.’

The Ukrainian defence ministry said Rear Admiral Sergei Haiduk was detained, and a news agency close to the Russian-backed local authorities reported that he had been summoned for questioning by prosecutors.

Response: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced the EU will impose further sanctions on Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses lawmakers at the lower house of parliament in Bundestag, Berlin, on Thursday ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels

Later in the day, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the Crimean authorities to release him. He was let go this morning.



Russian troops also seized another Ukrainian naval facility in Crimea late on Wednesday in Bakhchisaray, about 30 km (20 miles) southwest of the regional capital, Simferopol.



With thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and sailors trapped on military bases, surrounded by heavily armed Russian forces and pro-Russia militia, the Kiev government said it was drawing up plans to evacuate its outnumbered troops from Crimea.



Just how many retreating troops Ukraine will have to absorb in what amounts to a military surrender of Crimea was unclear.

David Cameron speaks at the EU Summit - where Ukraine will not doubt be high on the agenda

World leaders, including David Cameron and Angela Merkel speak during an EU summit

Cameron talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the start of the summit

Many servicemen have already switched sides to Russia, but authorities said they were prepared to relocate as many as 25,000 soldiers and their families to the Ukrainian mainland.



Humbled but defiant, Ukraine last night lashed out symbolically at Russia by declaring its intent to leave the Moscow-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of 11 former Soviet nations.



But Ukraine has been largely powerless to prevent Russian troops from taking control of Crimea, which President Vladimir Putin formally annexed on Tuesday with the stroke of a pen.



Crimea's absorption came after a hastily organised referendum in which the population overwhelmingly, albeit under conditions akin to martial law, voted in favour of seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia.

'We do not need to trigger an actual war with Russia': President Barack Obama has ruled out military involvement in Ukraine instead calling for diplomacy

'We're in this with you': U.S. Vice President Joe Biden vowed America will defend any NATO member from aggression as ex-Soviet states expressed concerns over the developments in Crimea

Talks: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met with Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite (centre) and Latvia's President Andris Berzins (left) on Wednesday

Russia's Constitutional Court chairman, Valery Zorkin, said yesterday the treaty signed by Mr Putin has been ruled valid .



Ukraine now plans to seek U.N. support to turn the peninsula into a demilitarised zone.



Andriy Parubiy, secretary of Ukraine's national security and defence council, also announced Ukraine would hold military manoeuvres with the US and Britain, signatories, along with Russia, of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. He provided no details.



The document was designed to guarantee Ukraine's territorial integrity when it surrendered its share of Soviet nuclear arsenals to Russia after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.



Ukraine has accused Russia of breaching the agreement by taking over the Crimean Peninsula.



In Washington, the Pentagon said it would participate as planned in a multinational military exercise this summer in Ukraine.



Dubbed 'Rapid Trident,' the ground manoeuvres have been held annually for a number of years with forces from Britain and other Nato countries as well as Ukraine, which has a partner relationship with Nato but is not a member.



The Pentagon gave no details on the number of U.S. forces expected to participate or when the exercises would be held. Last year, the two-week manoeuvres involving 17 nations were held in July.

Sending a message: Russian flags fly at the top of a chimney near the territory of a Ukrainian military unit in Sevastopol on Wednesday

Waving goodbye: Ukrainian servicemen leave a Ukrainian military unit after it was taken over by Russian forces in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Wednesday

Going home: Ukrainian soldiers left the base with their belongings after being forced out of the building on Wednesday

A Ukrainian officer leaves as Russian soldiers take over the Ukrainian navy headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this morning said the legal process required to make Crimea part of Russia will be completed this week.



'Practical steps are being taken to implement the agreements on the entry of Crimea and (the Crimean port city of) Sevastopol into Russia,' Itar-Tass news agency quoted Lavrov as saying. 'The legal process will be completed this week.'



Russia's lower house of parliament ratified the treaty on Thursday to make Crimea and Sevastopol regions of Russia. Only one deputy in the State Duma voted against the treaty .

The upper house is also expected to accept the treaty on Friday.

'From now on, and forever, the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol will be in the Russian Federation,' pro-Kremlin lawmaker Leonid Slutsky said in an address before the vote.



It comes as European Union leaders are likely to extend asset freezes and travel bans on key members of the Russian regime, as they meet in Brussels today to discuss tougher sanctions in response to the annexation of Crimea.



In a two-day summit, the EU is also expected to reaffirm its support for the new administration in Kiev by signing political elements of an association agreement with Ukraine.

Flying the flag: A soldier holds up a Russian flag on the roof of Ukraine's naval headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimean, on Wednesday morning after the base was stormed by pro-Russian forces

Taking control: Pro-Russian self-defence force members break through an entrance to the Ukrainian Navy headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Wednesday

Being cut out: A member of the Pro-Russian self-defence force reaches for a knife as he takes down a Ukrainian Navy flag at the Ukrainian Navy headquarters in Sevastopol

Transformation: Ukrainian Navy flags and insignia are removed from inside the Ukrainian Navy headquarters