Ukraine prepares for war with Russia, mobilises reservists

[KIEV] Ukraine mobilised for war yesterday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that he had the right to invade, creating the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. "This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country," said Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, head of a pro-Western government that took power when Russian ally Viktor Yanukovych fled last week.

Mr Putin obtained permission from his parliament on Saturday to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine, spurning Western pleas not intervene.

Russian forces have already bloodlessly seized Crimea - an isolated Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has a naval base. Yesterday, they surrounded several small Ukrainian military outposts there and demanded the Ukrainian troops disarm. Some refused, although no shots were fired.