so-called crimean authorities. for the second day in a row, a team of european oh observers was turned away from the crimean border, because there were gun-toting masked men wearing russian-type clothing. russia is claiming that was a convoy that failed to obtain something called an official invitation. and that meant some tense moments at a checkpoint and our matthew chance was there. reporter: we re here at this checkpoint near the crimean peninsula. i can tell you, the monitors there from the osca, the organization for security and cooperation in europe, they have just been turned back again from this checkpoint after trying to negotiate with those pro-russian gunmen over there, stopping this mission of the oac from entering crimea. trying to negotiate with them to let them through, at least a portion of them through. that s not been permitted. and, of course, that s caused a great deal of anger amongst the crowds that have gathered here. many of them ethnic tartar, some
black in moscow. phil, first off, talk about this newest development, this ultimatum. it certainly did ratchet things up. reporter: yeah, indeed that s right, ashleigh. what we understand from the ukrainian defense ministry, and this is the most significant of a number of ultimatums that russian military have given over the last 24 hours or so. really throughout this crisis. but we understand that the chief of the black sea fleet, the russian black sea fleet boarded a ukrainian vessel, and basically said you ve got three choices. you can swear allegiance to the new crimean authorities, you can just simply surrender, or you can face attack. it at the moment, ukrainian defense officials haven t confirmed for us there is a time attached to this deadline. but they say that they have been receiving numerous deadlines in recent days and believe this is part of an ongoing psychological tactic by the russian authorities, by the russian forces, to try and drive them into surrendering and givi
hello, i m wolf blitzer reporting from washington. there is a lot to tell you over the next hour. on the deepening crisis in ukraine. at the center of the conflict, the peninsula seen here in red. there you see it in the middle of the screen. ukraine s defense minister says they have warned officials to swear allegiance to the new crimean authorities, surrender, or face an attack. but russian media now saying reports of a russian ultimatum are, quote, utter rubbish. what we know right now is about 6,000 russian troops are in control of crimea. the european union demanding an immediate russian withdrawal. the secretary of state, john kerry, he s due to fly out tonight, to go to kiev in ukraine. he spoke moments ago at the state department, and he condemned russian s invasion of crimea as an incredible act of aggression. in moscow, russian s parliament is considering legislation that could ultimately lead to the annexation of crimea as russian