Balaclava-wearing men in unmarked military uniforms toting automatic weapons yesterday seized the headquarters of the only significant organisation left in Crimea that opposes Russian rule: the Tatar parliament.

The raid on the Mejlis followed searches of more than 20 Tatar homes, businesses, religious institutions and schools in the last three weeks in the biggest crackdown on freedom of speech since Russia annexed the peninsula six months ago.

When Russian troops in unmarked uniforms typical of special forces swarmed over Crimea in March the Kremlin had tried to charm the Crimean Tatars, the peninsula’s indigenous population, promising them the rights and political status they never achieved under Kiev. President Putin summoned Mustafa Dzhemilev, their spiritual leader, to Moscow to make the case for Russian annexation. Mr