On the morning of February 27, around 4:30, 2 groups of 10-15 armed men in military uniform without insignia entered the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea and took control of it.[1] Immediately after the capture, the attackers were barricaded indoors, having previously removed the small number of staff located in the middle.[7] Crimean People's Deputy from the faction UDAR Serhiy Kunitsyn said that the building was captured by 120 highly trained personnel who have a large arsenal of weapons, including automatic weapons, machine guns and grenade launchers, which would allow them to defend themselves for a long time.[8] Persons who seized the building described themselves as representatives of the self-defense of Russian-speaking citizens of Crimea, although the Mejlis leader and deputy of the Crimean parliament, Refat Chubarov, said that Russian people were in charge of these people; later it became clear that the operation was orchestrated by Russian special forces.[9]