Buildings of Crimean parliament and govt seized

09:50, 27.02.2014 1 min read

The buildings housing the parliament and government of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea were seized by armed persons on Thursday.

A Crimean parliament spokesman told Interfax that unknown persons had broken into the legislature's headquarters and ordered security guards to leave the building.

All employees of Crimea's parliament were given a day-off on Thursday, he said.

There is a large police presence outside of the Crimean government headquarters. Officers are not allowing people to approach the seized building.

According to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, a barricade, made of timber pallets, garbage bins and other materials has been constructed near the entrance door to the parliament building, which has also been cordoned off by police.

Russian flags can be seen on the roof of both buildings.