Evgeny Feldman, a staff photographer for the Russian publication, Novaya Gazeta, visited a checkpoint Saturday on a road a few kilometers north of Crimea. On either side of the checkpoint, Ukraine forces faced their Russian counterparts in a vivid microcosm of the global, east-west struggle over Crimea.
In one area near the Russian encampment, it appears that a minefield has been dug.
His excursion took place as tension escalated in Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula. Warning shots were fired to prevent an international observer mission from entering Crimea, and there were new reports of Russian reinforcements arriving there.
Here is a collection of photos Feldman took on Saturday morning in and around the city of Chonhar, along with his observations.