Ukrainian forces put on high alert

(Vatican Radio) Ukraine was getting closer to war with neighboring Russia on Sunday as Ukrainian authorities put all armed forces on highest alert.


Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said his nation was "on the brink of disaster" after Russian

President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade, in what is the biggest confrontation

between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

Russian forces already effectively seized Crimea - the isolated Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has a naval base. On Sunday they surrounded several small Ukrainian military outposts there and demanded the Ukrainian troops disarm. Some refused.


Other apparently Russian forces have been seen around airports, roads and government buildings in

the Crimean Peninsula.


Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatseniuk accused Moscow of declaring war to his nation.


"If President Putin wants to be the president who started the war between two neighboring and friendly

countries, between Ukraine and Russia, so: he has reached this target within a few inches. We are on the

brink of disaster," he told reporters.


Ukraine's Defence Ministry was ordered to call-up reservists, theoretically all able-bodied men up

to 40 in a country with universal male conscription

Experts were quick to warn that financially troubled Ukraine would struggle to find

extra guns or uniforms for many of those ordered to join the military.


Prime Minister Yatseniuk appealed for Western support. "If President Putin wants to be the

president who started the war between two neighboring and friendly

countries, between Ukraine and Russia, so: he has reached this target within a few inches,"
he told reporters.


Officials are concerned that besides Crimea, separatists in other pro-Russian eastern parts of

the country will also ask for Russian military intervention.


Those areas saw more pro-Russian demonstrations on Sunday after violent protests the

previous day. But Kyiv's Independence Square thousands demonstrated against Russian

military action.


The developments have lead to the most serious tensions between the West and Russia since

the Cold War.


The NATO-military alliance has joined those condemning Russia's actions, says NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.


“Russia must stop its military activities and its threats. We support Ukraine’s

territorial integrity and sovereignty," he said.


"We support the rights of the people of Ukraine to determine their own future without outside interference and we emphasise the need for Ukraine to continue

to uphold the democratic rights of all people and ensure that minority rights are protected,”

Fogh Rasmussen added.

Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke 90 minutes with American President Barack Obama, said he has the right to protect Russian interests.


The United States has condemned Russia's invasion, and threatened with to isolate Russia that may lead to visa bans, asset freezes, trade and investment penalties, and a boycott of a Russian-hosted economic summit in June. Listent to this report by Stefan Bos