[worth]

Ripley says the normal Russian troop level at Black Sea Fleet facilities in Crimea historically has been about 11,000. But most are seamen or support personnel -- not the kind of ground combat forces that have fanned out on the Crimean Peninsula.

...

Under various agreements between Russia and Ukraine, Russia is allowed to keep up to 25,000 troops on the Crimean Peninsula. Those troops are allowed outside of their bases for operations considered normal to maintaining the facilities. But there are limitations on deployments -- even for training operations.

...

Ripley says security camera footage of the seizure of the Crimean parliament by uniformed pro-Russian gunmen is the most interesting evidence of Russian private security firms playing a role.

“You saw some really fit athletic guys with quite extensive military equipment -- assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and they were carrying big [containers] full of spare ammunition and spare rockets," he said. "They had on identification tape so they could recognize each other in the dark. These were pretty well-organized guys. But they weren’t in the same uniforms as the Russian troops that we saw blockading the Ukrainian bases, which suggests that [some of them were] contractors. The best description I’ve had of them is that they are former Russian special forces who have set themselves up in the private sector. Many of them work under contract to companies that have close links to Russian oligarchs who, of course, have close links to the Russian president. So we see a [Russian] state-private sector synergy there.”

Langton points out that much work appears to have been done before Russia’s intervention to raise small local units among Crimea’s ethnic Russians that could be activated in times of tension.

http://www.rferl.org/content/russian.../25285238.html

Emphasis added.