Ukrainian Officer: Russian Troops Opened Fire At Crimea Base

REUTERS/Thomas Peter Armed men, believed to be Russian servicemen, march outside an Ukrainian military base in the village of Perevalnoye near the Crimean city of Simferopol March 9, 2014.

KIEV (Reuters) - Russian troops opened fire with automatic rifles during a takeover on Monday of a Ukrainian naval post in Crimea, Interfax news agency quoted a Ukrainian officer as saying.

The unnamed officer from the motor vehicle battalion of the Ukrainian navy said Russian troops broke in to the base near the inland town of Bakhchisaray some time after 2 p.m., took mobile phones from the Ukrainians and began trying to remove vehicles. None of the Ukrainian troops was hurt and the base commander was trying to negotiate an end to the action.

Further details were not immediately available. Russian forces who have taken control of a number of military installations across the Black Sea peninsula have not so far exchanged fire in anger with Ukrainian troops.

(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Timothy Heritage)