SIMFEROPOL. March 19 (Interfax) - One self-defense fighter has been killed and two people injured as a result of a shooting near Kubanskaya Street in Simferopol, according to the Crimean news agency which cited a source in the Crimean Interior Ministry.
"The shooting was carried out from the same spot in two directions: against the self-defense fighters who were checking a warning about the presence of armed people in an uncompleted building, and in the direction of Ukrainian military base located nearby," the source said.
The self-defense forces today received a warning about the discovery of a group of armed people in a partially inhabited building near Kubanskaya Street. Fire was opened against the fighters as they were investigating the warning.
"As a result, one fighter has been killed and yet another injured. A man from the nearby Ukrainian military base has also sustained an injury. The shooting in both directions was carried out from the same spot," the ministry source said.
The Interior Ministry has not ruled out it was a deliberate provocation aimed at sowing nervousness and compounding the situation in the city on the day when Crimea signed a reunification agreement with Russia.