AS AFM goes to press a satisfactory resolution to the recent events in Ukraine -and more particularly in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC), which comprises most of the Crimean Peninsula's land mass -seems along way off. Russia ceded the peninsular to Ukraine more than half a century ago when nobody in the Kremlin could foresee the end of the Soviet Union. Following the political upheaval in greater Ukraine after protestors in the capital Kiev seemed to have achieved their ambition of deposing President Viktor Yanukovych, the focus of attention rapidly shifted to Crimea. On February 28, 13 Russian Air Force Ilyushin 11-76 Candid transport aircraft flew around 2,000 Russian troops to the Black Sea Fleet's 7057th Air Base at Gvardeyskoye (Hvardiiske Air Base to the Ukrainians), north-west of Simferopol. Russia has a long-standing agreement to base Sukhoi Su-24 Fencerbombers there. A day earlier Ukraine reported that eleven Russian helicopters (eight M-24 Hind attack ships and three Mi-8 Hips) had illegally crossed the border into Crimean airspace; they were seen and photographed flying over Sevastopol in the direction of the Russian naval base at Kacha, also part of the Black Sea Fleet's 7057th Air Base and home to a mixture of Russian naval helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
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