DHAKA: Crimea is set to vote on whether to re-join Russia or stay with Ukraine - a referendum condemned as "illegal" by Kiev and the West but backed by Moscow.

Russian troops have taken de facto control of the majority ethnic-Russian region, and voters are expected to support leaving Ukraine, reports BBC.
 
Crimean Tatars are boycotting the vote, pledging their allegiance to Kiev.

Russia earlier vetoed a draft UN resolution criticising the vote - the only Security Council member to do so.

The US-drafted document was supported by 13 Council members. China, regarded as a Russian ally on the issue, abstained from the vote.

The US and EU have warned they would slap further tough sanctions against Russian officials if the referendum goes ahead.

Russia`s envoy voted against the draft resolution at the UN Security Council

Russia intervened in the Crimean peninsula by seizing control of government buildings and blocking Ukraine`s troops at their bases after the fall of Ukraine`s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February.

However, the Kremlin officially denies deploying extra troops there, describing them as Crimea`s "self-defence forces".

In other developments:

Kiev accused Russian forces of seizing a village just north of Crimea, describing the move as "the military invasion" Tens of thousands of opponents and supporters of Russia`s actions in Ukraine held rival rallies in Moscow
Pro-Ukrainian activists warn of "provocations" during a pro-Russian rally in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on Sunday

BDST: 0901 HRS, MAR 16, 2014