Russia's military has announced delivery of new air defence missiles to Crimea, in a move scheduled before the latest tension with Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin Photo: AFP
Meanwhile, a statement by Russia's Southern Military District, which incorporates Crimea, said the missiles had been received by an air defence regiment in Crimea.
According to the statement, quoted by Russian news agencies, the missiles were successfully tested on the Kapustin Yar test range in southern Russia.
Russian media reported last month systems were earmarked for troops in Crimea.
Russia's Interfax news agency said the missiles were designed to hit airborne targets up to 400km away, and ballistic missiles at a range of up to 60km flying at speeds of up to 4.8km per second.
The missiles are being installed in Crimea to protect Russia's Hmeimim air base in Syria among other things, it adds.
Moscow also announced exercises in Crimea next week to simulate an attack by weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Radioactive, biological and chemical defence troops will be deployed in the manoeuvres, which will involve the use of Solntsepyok rocket systems in Volgograd, as well as an artificial smoke screen to block any surveillance.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow might be forced to cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine if the crisis worsened.
Denying the accusations, Ukraine placed its troops on alert along its de facto border with Crimea, and along its front line with Russian-backed rebels holding parts of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east.
A column of Ukrainian tanks could be seen rolling towards Crimea on Friday.
Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, said this week it had foiled a Ukrainian sabotage mission.
It accused the Ukrainian government in Kiev of trying to send saboteurs into Crimea and reported the deaths of a soldier and a secret police officer in an operation to foil the alleged plot.
Russian state TV broadcast an apparent confession by a man named as Yevhen Panov, saying he was part of a Ukrainian defence ministry force sent into Crimea "to carry out acts of sabotage".
He said the group also included officers of Ukraine's military intelligence.
Reports in Ukraine said Mr Panov was a former volunteer fighter who has more recently been associated with a charitable organisation called Heroes of Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin also earlier fired one of the most powerful men in the Kremlin - his chief of staff.
Mr Putin was quoted as saying Sergei Ivanov had left at his own request and would now be an envoy on environmental issues.
Crimea was annexed by Russia after a majority of its mostly ethnic Russian population voted to secede in an unrecognised referendum on self-determination, held under military occupation.
The annexation was relatively bloodless, in sharp contrast to the ferocious fighting which followed in Donetsk and Luhansk.
- BBC
