Crimean lawmakers urge Yanukovych to take extraordinary measures to settle crisis

“The peaceful Crimea is extremely worried by another outbreak of
violence in the center of Kyiv. Slaughter on the capital’s streets
proves that the opposition has perceived numerous concessions on the
part of the authorities as a manifestation of weakness and has taken
advantage of the amnesty law to take a respite before a new attempt to
forcibly seize power in the country,” the Crimean lawmakers said in a
statement published on the Crimean Supreme Council official website on
Tuesday evening.

“Fighters from Svoboda, the Right Sector, and other extremist
organizations have declared general mobilization and are calling on the
people having firearms to join the barricades. There have been first
victims of their criminal deeds: innocent people died at the hands of
the lawless gunmen on February 18. These are no longer peaceful
protests, of which the opposition leaders and biased mass media outlets
have said repeatedly, and not even mass unrest. This is the beginning of
a civil war, of the danger of which the Crimean parliament has warned
repeatedly,” it said.

“Now we demand that you, as the head of state, act resolutely and
take extraordinary measures. Hundreds of thousands of Crimean residents,
who voted for you in the presidential elections in the hope for
stability in the country, are also expecting this. There is still a
chance to preserve the foundations of Ukraine’s constitutional system
and unity. There may not be one tomorrow. In case of further escalation
of the civilian confrontation, the Supreme Council of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea reserves the right to call on the autonomous
republic’s residents to stand up in defense of civilian peace and
calmness on the peninsula,” the appeal to Yanukovych says.