Ukraine: Russian military blocking airport

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's interior minister says the Russian military are blocking an airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea near the Russian naval base.

Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post that the Belbek international airport in Sevastopol is blocked by military units of the Russian navy. Avakov called the blockade "military invasion and occupation."

Separately, dozens of armed men in military uniforms without markings were patrolling the airport in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea on Friday as tensions in the country's Russian-speaking southeast escalated. It was not immediately clear who they were.