Russia has given Ukrainian forces across Crimea an ultimatum: to surrender by 4am CET on Tuesday or face a military assault.<br /><br />News agency Interfax quoted a source at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence as saying the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet had issued the ultimatum.<br /><br />The Ukrainian Defence Ministry has not yet confirmed this.<br /><br />Putin declared at the weekend he had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian interests and citizens.<br /><br />Russian troops and armoured vehicles have been surrounding two military bases in Crimea at Perevalnoye, 40 kilometres from the capital Simferopol since Sunday.<br /><br />Ukrainian troops inside had so far refused to surrender their weapons, but say they agreed to defuse the tense situation and remove the ammunition from their guns.
