After getting rolled all last week by Russian troops and losing several military bases, Ukraine announced that it is pulling military forces out of Crimea.
Ukraine announced the evacuation of its troops and their families from Crimea on Monday, effectively acknowledging defeat in the face of Russian forces, who stormed one of the last remaining Ukrainian bases on the peninsula.
Thousands of Ukrainian troops have been besieged on bases in Crimea, offering no armed resistance but refusing to surrender, since President Vladimir Putin declared Moscow's right to intervene at the start of the month.
Moscow formally annexed the region last week and its forces have been seizing the last Ukrainian bases in recent days.
"The National Defence and Security Council has instructed the Defence Ministry to carry out a re-deployment of military units in Crimea and evacuate their families," acting president Oleksander Turchinov told parliament in Kiev.
The move, he said, had been made following threats by Russian forces on the lives and health of Ukrainian service staff and their families.
Russian forces, using stun grenades and machine guns and backed by two helicopters, swept into a marine base in the port of Feodosia early on Monday, overrunning one of Ukraine's last symbols of resistance. Ukrainian officers were taken away for questioning, Ukrainian officials said.
An official withdrawal from the base was due to start at 3 p.m., Ukrainian military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said.
Effectively the military phase of this is now over. The question is will more military phases come with more captured territory? Ukraine's forces are routed, and Putin now has Crimea in name as well as in deed.
So what's next, and does anyone think Putin will stop here?
The G8 are now the G7 and the impact on Russia will occur over months and not be in the news. Putin is in the position of not knowing what could occur long term and time will tell if the takeover was worth it as far as the rest of the world is concerned.
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