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Armed confrontation opposed in Crimea

SIMFEROPOL, March 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Civic Chamber members visiting Crimea report a peaceful climate on Ukraine’s peninsula.“The majority of people we have talked to support the idea of a referendum [on the autonomy’s future] and consider the government in Kiev illegitimate,” the forum's deputy secretary Vladislav Grib said on Tuesday.

“At the same time, there are hardly any forces in Crimea that are disposed to an armed confrontation,” Grib said, heading representatives of an assembly set up to promote coordination between national and local authorities and Russian citizens.

Civic Chamber members have met with social activists, students, representatives of national diasporas and volunteers patrolling the Crimean capital, Simferopol. They will move on to the city of Sevastopol to continue meetings with representatives of community and political groups.

Delegation member Georgy Fyodorov told Itar-Tass on Monday that the visit was aimed at “monitoring the situation and preparing for Civic Chamber hearings on events in Crimea, scheduled for March 6.”