Ukraine crisis: Anti-Russian activist is shot as he tries to cross into Crimea

Ukrainian television showed men in the uniform of the banned Berkut riot police blocking the road south (AFP)

A Ukrainian activist was shot – apparently with rubber bullets – when he and others tried to cross into Crimea on Monday to show solidarity with opponents of last week’s Russian military takeover.

Ukrainian television showed men in the uniform of the banned Berkut riot police blocking the road south.

One was shown firing twice, hitting a man in the chest. The victim’s injuries appeared minor, suggesting the use of rubber bullets.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsya said the country considered its confrontation with Moscow to be “almost like a war”.

“We have to cope with an aggression that we do not understand,” he said.

Shots were also reportedly fired into the air as armed men moved into a Ukrainian naval post in Crimea.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry heightened the tension, saying that “ lawlessness” by far-right activists “rules in eastern regions of Ukraine… with the full connivance” of Kiev.