Gunmen reportedly seize regional government in Crimea

Simferopol legislature’s press office said to confirm its building has been overrun

MOSCOW — A local leader of the Tatar community in Ukraine’s Crimea region says armed men have seized two government buildings in the regional capital, Simferopol.

Refat Chubarov wrote on his Facebook page early Thursday that the buildings of the local government and legislature were seized overnight by uniformed men.

Phone calls to the Crimean legislature are ringing unanswered, and its website is down. But the Interfax news agency reports that the legislature’s press office has confirmed the building has been seized.

Fistfights broke out Wednesday outside the legislature’s building in Simferopol between pro- and anti-Russian demonstrators.

In Kiev, opposition leaders who took charge after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fled were working on forming a new government to chart a path forward for the country and its ailing economy.