Armed men block Crimean airports


SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine — Unidentified armed men who may belong to the Russian military are blockading an airport near Sevastopol Friday in an escalation of tensions between the neighboring states that Ukraine's interior minister is calling an "armed invasion."
"I can only describe this as a military invasion and occupation," Ukraine's new Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote in a post on Facebook.
The Russian foreign ministry refused to comment while a spokesman for the Russian defense ministry was not available for comment, according to the Associated Press, who attempted to contact the ministries.
Dozens of armed men in military uniforms without markings have also apparently taken over the main airport in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, although it has not been confirmed that the men at either airport belong to Russian military units.
On Thursday, armed men seized the Crimea parliament as Russian jets streaked near the border and a newly created Ukraine government formed to try to end a crisis that threatens to split the country following the ouster of its president.
After capturing the parliament and government offices in Simferopol the masked men raised the Russian flag over the parliament building.
Ukraine's ousted President Viktor Yanukovych has a news conference scheduled Friday in Russia's south near the Ukrainian border. After surfacing in Moscow, he declared Thursday in a statement that he remains Ukraine's legitimate president.