In Simferopol, armed men seized equipment of AP journalists and accused of spying

On March 6, in Simferopol armed men seized the equipment from the Associated Press's filming crew and accused the journalists of spying.

The incident took place when the AP filming crew was setting the camera over one of the downtown restaurants to transmit the video on live satellite broadcast. First, they were approached by unidentified men, who demanded they switched off their lights, made photos of their TV equipment and accused the journalists of spying. Immediately after, came armed men, who forced the reporters to face the wall, cut all wires and cables and took the equipment away. The Associated Press crew was held there for about two hours, they sustained no injuries. Some of the equipment was returned but not all of it.