DPA/Moscow

Russia has officially declared Crimea part of its zone of military control, even as isolated military units loyal to Ukraine hung on grimly at a few sites in the contested peninsula.
Ukrainian officials said at least two Ukrainian bases were still resisting being taken over by the Russians.
Pro-Russian units forced their way into Belbek Airbase, close to Sevastopol, yesterday afternoon.
The men smashed through a perimeter fence in two heavy vehicles, Vladislav Seleznev, the Ukrainian military spokesman on the peninsula, said on Facebook.
An ambulance was seen entering the base after reports that a journalist was injured.
Crimean Premier Sergey Aksenov stressed that the base had been liberated from “foreign troops”.
Seleznev earlier said that an attempt by unarmed pro-Russian forces to “storm” one of the sites was repelled with the help of stun grenades.
Personnel at the other base had been issued a Russian ultimatum.
The Russian Navy has also seized the Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s sole submarine, near the port of Sevastopol.
The 34-year-old sub is now officially part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the head of Russian submarine forces, Anatoli Varochkin, said.
About half its crew of 78 agreed to become Russian Navy sailors and the rest have left the vessel, the Ria Novosti news agency said.
The defence ministry in Moscow said the Russian flag was flying over 147 military facilities that were previously Ukrainian.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet had so far taken over 54 of the 67 Ukrainian military vessels in Crimean ports.
The ministry added that fewer than 2,000 of the more than 18,000 Ukrainian military personnel wanted to leave Crimea.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has sent an advance guard of 40 monitors to Ukraine.
Their mandate does not mention Crimea, and Russia stressed they would not be admitted to the peninsula, saying it was now part of Russia, not Ukraine.
Moscow, which ceased resistance and approved the mission on Friday, hailed it as a recognition of the “new politico-legal realities”.
Russia’s extension of its military control reflects its absorption of the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol this week amid protests from Ukraine, the European Union and the US.
In the past, Moscow repeatedly denied that the uniformed personnel lacking insignia who were besieging Crimean military bases were its own.
In Kiev, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced support for the new pro-Western authorities there.
Ban met interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and said: “The Ukrainian people are experiencing a trauma that no country should have to live through.”
“I am sure that you will overcome this difficult period with help from the international community and under your leadership and by the courage of the people,” the Unian news agency quoted him as saying.
He hailed the signature on Friday of the political part of an association agreement with the European Union as “a very good sign that embodies an independent decision of your country”.
The refusal of former president Viktor Yanukovych to sign the pact in November set off three months of protests that led to his ouster and tensions between the international community and Russia.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also met Yatsenyuk and promised support for the new government.
“We are meeting today because we know the situation is still tense,” he said.
Yatsenyuk called for German military technology, saying: “We need to re-equip the Ukrainian armed forces and strengthen them.”
The German minister was set to visit the eastern, mainly Russian-speaking city of Donetsk later in the day to show support for that region remaining part of Ukraine.
Before he arrived, 2,000 people demonstrated against Kiev and demanded the reinstatement of Yanukovych.
Local media said they chanted, “Russia, Russia” and “referendum”, a reference to the controversial plebiscite before the Russian takeover of Crimea.
Moscow has been urging Kiev to grant the Russian-speaking east autonomy.