COUP IN KYIV?

Putin was the head of the KGB.

Well, so Obama is the head of the NSA,
Queen Elisabeth II of the GCHQ ...

Indeed, Putin was for one year the director of Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). (And he re-organised the FSB when he became president.)

Pro-Kiev and pro-Moscow protesters have scuffled in Ukraine's Crimea region, as tensions increase following last week's ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych.

One person was crushed to death during the face-off outside parliament in Simferopol, the BBC confirms.

Only a police cordon separated the rallies - one pro-Russian, the other involving Crimean Tatars and people backing Ukraine's change of government.

A new cabinet is due to be unveiled in the capital Kiev in a few hours' time.

It is widely expected that a number of activists from Kiev's main protest camp, the Maidan, will be offered ministerial roles.

Any new cabinet will face a daunting set of challenges, with many areas of government in Ukraine needing urgent reform, the BBC's David Stern in Kiev reports.

In a separate development, the interim authorities have disbanded the elite Berkut police units, which are blamed for the deaths of dozens of protesters in the Ukrainian capital last week.

'Provocation'

Thousands of people took part in the two rival rallies in Crimea's administrative capital ahead of a planned session of the region's parliament, where the issue of Crimea's status had been initially expected to be raised.The violence in Simferopol illustrates the complexity of the situation in Crimea - a situation made worse by the current power vacuum on the southern Ukrainian peninsula.

Angry Russian Crimeans are denouncing the new government in Kiev, who they fear will undermine their links to Russia. We even saw them chanting "Berkut", the name of the riot police who killed so many protesters last week.

But today, Crimea's Tatars turned up in force to show their support for the new government in Kiev. That's because of their long-running suspicion of Russia. They were the original occupants of Crimea. They were first invaded by the Russians in the 18th Century, and then kicked out by Stalin in the 1940s, only returning to Crimea in the 1990s.

However, parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Konstantinov later said MPs would not discuss any secession by Crimea, which currently enjoys autonomy within Ukraine.

Mr Konstantinov described as "provocation" earlier media reports on the issue.

In Simferopol, Crimean Tatars chanted "Glory to Ukraine!", while the pro-Russian activists responded with "Russia!"

After the meeting, Crimean Tatar leader Refat Chubarov called on activists - including ethnic Russians - to form self-defence units to prevent any violence or provocations, Ukrainska Pravda news website reports.

Crimea - where ethnic Russians are in a majority - was transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954.

Ethnic Ukrainians loyal to Kiev and Muslim Tatars - whose animus to Russia stretches back to the horrors of Stalin's deportations during World War II - have formed an alliance to oppose any move back towards Moscow.

The change of government in Kiev has raised questions over the future of Russia's naval bases in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, the lease for which was extended until 2042 by Mr Yanukovych.

Most experts believe the new leadership will not push for the withdrawal of the Russian fleet, as this could further threaten Ukraine's internal stability as well as the country's fragile relations with Russia, the BBC's Ilya Abishev reports.

A statement issued by three former Ukrainian presidents on Wednesday - Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko - condemned what it said was Russian interference in Crimean politics.

Also on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a snap drill to test the combat readiness of troops in central and western Russia, near the border with Ukraine.

Such checks are not uncommon, although the timing is seen as significant, correspondents say.

Russia, along with the US, UK and France, pledged to uphold the territorial integrity of Ukraine in a memorandum signed in 1994.

Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov has expressed concern about what he called the "serious threat" of separatism following the ousting of Mr Yanukovych.

Russia has portrayed the ousting of Mr Yanukovych as a violent seizure of power by the opposition, while EU countries have largely backed the change in government.

Crimea
Autonomous republic within Ukraine
Transferred from Russia in 1954
Ethnic Russians - 58.5%*
Ethnic Ukrainians - 24.4%*
Crimean Tatars - 12.1%*
Source: Ukraine census 2001

I admit I have no knowledge of Ukraine until a few days ago I saw an article on a news site, which is why I haven't said too much.