Vladislav Seleznyov, spokesman for the Ukrainian military in the Crimean peninsula, said the events involving three warships Ternopol, Lutsk and Khmelnitsky took place on March 20.

Local armed forces, many of whom were hidden, stormed three warships anchored in the port city of Sevastopol and wrested control of the vehicles from Ukrainian officers using stun grenades.

The Ukrainian flag on the ships was replaced by the Russian tricolor flag and the Russian naval flag.

Ukrainian military personnel on board the ships were pushed out along with their luggage.

Unmasked pro-Russian gunmen have taken control of Ukraine’s government agencies and military bases on the Crimean peninsula since late February, after pro-Western people seized power in Kiev.

The naval base at Novoozerne (pictured) was one of two Ukrainian bases in Crimea held by local self-defense forces on March 19.

A Ukrainian soldier looked at a gunman in the Novoozerne base, which was once his home,  through a barbed wire fence with a look of both regret and malice.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crimean officials signed an agreement making the peninsula officially part of Russian territory on March 18, the Ukrainian naval headquarters in the port city of Sevastopol was also under control.

While local self-defense forces blocked the gate and guarded the outside, Ukrainian soldiers were inside the naval headquarters in the capital Simferopol, standing behind protective sandbags looking out.

Ukrainian soldiers had to talk to friends through the fence, as their base in Simferopol was surrounded by gunmen.

Family members try to give food to a Ukrainian soldier inside the fence.

Local self-defense forces patrolled in Perevalnoye, on the outskirts of the capital Simferopol, yesterday.

A Ukrainian soldier smokes inside the base in Perevalnoye.

`We are waiting for Kiev, our leaders, to speak up,` a major said.

Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Alexander Vitko (second from right) observes Ukrainian naval ships in Sevastopol Bay.