Armed pro-Moscow groups guarded the entrance gate of the Crimean parliament building in the capital Simferopol yesterday.

Parliamentarians of the autonomous republic on the peninsula of the same name have voted in favor of Crimea’s desire to `merge into the Russian Federation with the rights of a subject of the Russian Federation` on March 6.

Pictured, pro-Russian volunteers gathered in the square next to the Council of Ministers building of Crimea, in Simferopol, yesterday.

Pro-Russian military trucks pulling artillery move toward the border area between Crimea and the Kherson region of Ukraine, on the highway near the town of Dzhankoy.

A masked pro-Russian gunman checks a driver’s documents at a security post in Chongar, the border region between Crimea and Kherson.

Russian supporters drive and wave Russian flags in Crimea’s Simferopol center.

Pro-Russian people show off their forces in front of the city hall in Lenin square, Simferopol.

With the prospect of Crimea being separated from Ukraine increasingly apparent, the community supporting the new government in Kiev also organized protests to protest the referendum on merging with Russia.

Tatars make up only 12% of Crimea.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine yesterday declared the referendum in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea on annexing Russia to be unconstitutional.

Protesters hold signs with the words `United Ukraine` in Simferopol.

Young Tatars also participated in the protest with the banner `students protest against the referendum`.

A man holding balloons bearing the two colors of the Ukrainian flag speaks to Ukrainian soldiers at a military base in the town of Bakhchisarai.

Moscow vowed to respect the `free and democratic choice` of the Crimean people in the referendum on annexation into the Russian Federation.

However, the United States and the international community warned that they would not recognize the results of Crimea’s referendum and would protest if the Russian Parliament ratified it.

Today, the United Nations Security Council will have an emergency meeting requested by the US, to vote on a Western-backed resolution.

Mr. Ngoc