Ukraine's Defence Ministry issued orders to its remaining forces in Crimea yesterday to withdraw with their families from the peninsula.

Coup President Oleksandr Turchynov told parliament in Kiev: "The national security and defence council has reached a decision, under instructions from the Defence Ministry, to conduct a redeployment of military units stationed in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

"The cabinet of ministers has instructions to resettle the families of soldiers as well as everyone else who is forced to leave their homes today under the pressure and aggression of the Russian army's occupying forces."

Kiev's recognition of reality followed the seizure by pro-Russian forces of the Feodosia naval base yesterday morning - the third such assertion of Crimea's new status in two days.

A senior Defence Ministry official acknowledged that just two naval vessels and one police station were still flying the Ukrainian flag while 189 now sported Russian colours.

It is clear that most members of the Ukrainian armed forces based in Crimea have opted to remain there, effectively becoming citizens of the Russian Federation.

Nato military commander in Europe Philip Breedlove claimed on Sunday that Russia had built up an "incredible force" at the Ukrainian border which was "very, very ready."

"You cannot defend against that if you are not there to defend against it," he said. "We need to think about our allies, the positioning of our forces in the alliance and the readiness of those forces ... such that we can be there to defend against it if required, especially in the Baltics and other places."

He suggested that Moscow could already have its eyes on the Transdniestria region of Moldova as the "next place where Russian-speaking people may need to be incorporated."

Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov insisted that Russia was complying with international troop limits near the border with Ukraine, having hosted international inspectors in the last month to check on Russian troops.