Ukraine to insist on Russian BSF services withdrawal

"We will be insisting on the withdrawal of Russia's [military] courts, prosecutor's offices and military patrols from Ukraine," Volodymyr Ohryzko said. "The presence of these institutions in Crimea violates the Ukrainian Constitution."

The Russian fleet uses a range of naval facilities in the Crimea under a 1997 agreement that divided the Soviet Black Sea Fleet but allowed Russia to maintain its presence in the Ukrainian autonomy in exchange for $93 million in annual rent.

The diplomat added that the issue of withdrawing the Russian Black Sea Fleet's law-enforcement bodies would be settled in several months' time.