DHAKA: Pro-Russian activists, some armed, have stormed the HQ of Ukraine’s navy in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

Several Ukrainian servicemen have left, the Russia flag is flying and there are reports that Ukrainian navy chief Serhiy Hayduk has been detained.

It comes a day after Crimean leaders signed a treaty with Russia absorbing the peninsula into Russia.

Sunday’s disputed referendum, which officials say backed splitting from Ukraine, has been widely condemned.

Crimean and Russian officials say the vote showed overwhelming public support for joining Russia, with 97% of voters in favor.

But the West and the Ukrainian government in Kiev say the referendum, organized in two weeks and boycotted by many of Crimea’s Ukrainian and Tatar minorities, was illegal, and the results will not be recognized.

On Wednesday, Russia’s constitutional court approved the treaty as legal.

BSTD: 1747 HRS, MAR 19, 2014