Folk musicians try to calm tense troops in Crimea

By Ruth Pollard
Updated March 8 2014 - 2:13pm, first published 1:19pm
Standoff: Surrounded by unidentified Russian soldiers, Ukrainian marines talk behind a wall at their base in Perevalnoye, Crimea. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Standoff: Surrounded by unidentified Russian soldiers, Ukrainian marines talk behind a wall at their base in Perevalnoye, Crimea. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Standoff: Surrounded by unidentified Russian soldiers, Ukrainian marines talk behind a wall at their base in Perevalnoye, Crimea. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Standoff: Surrounded by unidentified Russian soldiers, Ukrainian marines talk behind a wall at their base in Perevalnoye, Crimea. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Standoff: Surrounded by unidentified Russian soldiers, Ukrainian marines talk behind a wall at their base in Perevalnoye, Crimea. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Standoff: Surrounded by unidentified Russian soldiers, Ukrainian marines talk behind a wall at their base in Perevalnoye, Crimea. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Standoff: Surrounded by unidentified Russian soldiers, Ukrainian marines talk behind a wall at their base in Perevalnoye, Crimea. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Standoff: Surrounded by unidentified Russian soldiers, Ukrainian marines talk behind a wall at their base in Perevalnoye, Crimea. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Gloom: A woman passes unidentified Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian base in Perevalnoye. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Gloom: A woman passes unidentified Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian base in Perevalnoye. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Gloom: A woman passes unidentified Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian base in Perevalnoye. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Gloom: A woman passes unidentified Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian base in Perevalnoye. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Gloom: A woman passes unidentified Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian base in Perevalnoye. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Gloom: A woman passes unidentified Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian base in Perevalnoye. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Gloom: A woman passes unidentified Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian base in Perevalnoye. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Gloom: A woman passes unidentified Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian base in Perevalnoye. Photo: Kate Geraghty

Perevalnoye, Crimea: As young Crimean marines stared grim-faced over the concrete wall of their barracks,  as they began their fifth day under siege by dozens of heavily armed but unidentified Russian troops, an extraordinary scene unfolded just metres away.

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