Ukraine's population is divided in loyalties between Russia and Europe, with much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the European Union while eastern and southern regions look to Russia for support. Russia has not confirmed it deployed thousands of troops to the region following reports that armed, Russian-speaking forces wearing military uniforms -- without insignia -- patrolled key infrastructure sites. Putin said the move is needed to protect ethnic Russians and the personnel of a Russian military base in Ukraine's strategic region of Crimea. According to the Kremlin, Putin told Obama that Russia reserves the right to defend its interests in the Crimea region and the Russian-speaking people who live there. Ukraine, a nation of 45 million people sandwiched between Europe and Russia's southwestern border, has been plunged into chaos since the ouster a week ago of President Viktor Yanukovych following bloody street protests that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded. Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, rejected Ukraine's calls to stop Russian intervention. Crimea's pro-Russian leader asked for help 
 
 The Russian Parliament vote Saturday came on the day that the newly installed pro-Russian leader of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, asked Putin for help in maintaining peace on the Black Sea peninsula -- where Russia's fleet is based at Sevastopol.  Unidentified gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms block the entrance of the Crimean Parliament building in Simferopol, Ukraine, Saturday, March 1, 2014. The discord between Russia and Ukraine sharpened... (Associated Press) 
 
 KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked parliament for permission to use the country's military in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Saturday. Airspace in the region reopened Saturday, a day after Ukraine accused Russian Black Sea forces of trying to seize two airports in Crimea but said Ukrainian security forces had prevented them from taking control. The men remained at the airports Saturday, but Yevgey Plaksin, director of the airport in Simferopol, said airport services were working. Pressure was mounting on Russia as leaders from the EU and the UK joined an international outcry, with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton deploring Russia's "unwarranted escalation of tensions."
– Tensions in the Ukraine just keep escalating. Although President Obama warned Russia not to send troops, Vladimir Putin today got official permission to do just that. The Russian president asked parliament to let him send forces to the "territory of Ukraine" to protect ethnic Russians in the region of Crimea and possibly elsewhere, reports AP. And in a not-so-surprising development, lawmakers agreed unanimously, reports CNN. Earlier, the pro-Russian prime minister of Crimea had made a formal request of his own for Putin's help. The Ukraine government in Kiev, meanwhile, says Russia already has sent 6,000 troops to Crimea, even if it hasn't acknowledged as much, reports the BBC. The upshot is that "the Black Sea peninsula appeared to slip beyond Kiev's control," says Reuters. And it quotes one political analyst who says "the scenario of Crimea's withdrawal (from Ukraine) has been accelerated." Soldiers presumed to be either part of the Russian military or at least backed by the military control the airports, government buildings, and the main communications center in Crimea. Airspace around the main airport in Simferopol has been shut down.