Pro-Moscow forces have stormed the Ukrainian navy's headquarters in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol and raised the Russian flag in an apparently peaceful takeover.
Witnesses said several hundred members of Crimea's self-defence militia and armed men, thought to be Russian troops, forced their way on to the base and raised three Russian flags over the building.
There were conflicting reports about the level of violence involved in the incident, with Interfax reporting that Ukrainian troops were injured after the gates were rammed as the assault began.
But a Ukrainian naval spokesman told Reuters there had been no violence and several men in plain clothes - believed to be from the "self-defence" forces - were in talks with servicemen on the base.
Armed troops - believed to be Russian servicemen - guard the naval base "This morning they stormed the compound. They cut the gates open, but I heard no shooting," said Oleksander Balanyuk, a captain in the navy.
A Reuters witness saw around a dozen Ukrainian servicemen, unarmed and in civilian clothes, walk out of the base unarmed some 90 minutes after the pro-Russia forces entered.
Interfax Ukraine said the commander of the Ukrainian navy, Admiral Sergei Haiduk, was among those who left and was driven away by officers from Russia's FSB intelligence service.
Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported that Alexander Vitko, commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet which is also based in Sevastopol, had been involved in talks at the headquarters.
Ukrainians leaving the base were cheered by people waving Russian flags Ukraine's interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has ordered the first deputy prime minister and acting defence minister to fly to Crimea "resolve the situation" a day after Vladimir Putin signed a treaty making it part of Russia.
Vitaly Yarema and Ihor Tenyukh - who has already vowed that Ukrainian troops will not withdraw from the peninsula - are to be tasked with "ensuring the conflict does not become military in nature".
But Crimea's prime minister Sergei Aksyonov said Ukrainian ministers would not be allowed to enter his territory.
Sky News Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said: "This is an example of the sort of incident that could trigger something much more dangerous."
A Ukrainian naval officer leaves his base in Sevastopol Tensions rose as US guided-missile destroyer the USS Truxtun started a one-day military exercise in the Black Sea with the Bulgarian and Romanian navy and the Russian military launched large-scale aviation exercises in western regions.
And Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he had urged his Russian counterpart in a phone call that an OSCE mission to Ukraine - which has previously been barred from entering Crimea - must be mandated within 24 hours.
Russia's Foreign Ministry hit back at criticism over its actions in Crimea, accusing western states of violating a 1994 agreement to respect Ukraine's sovereignty by "indulging a coup d'etat" that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych.
Sergei Lavrov has said sanctions - including asset freezes and travel bans - imposed on key officials over its intervention are "unacceptable and will not remain without consequences".
His response came after Russian President Vladimir Putin defended a referendum in which Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to join Moscow, insisting the poll was legal.
He said he did not want to "carve up" Ukraine but warned the West had "crossed a line" over the former Soviet country.
There was a peaceful night in Crimea after troops stormed an army base in Simferopol, killing one soldier.
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