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Russian Upper House Approves Use of Troops on Ukrainian Soil

March 1, 2014

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's upper house of parliament on Saturday approved a proposal by President Vladimir Putin to deploy Russian armed forces in Ukraine's Crimea region.

The Federation Council voted overwhelmingly to back a proposal to use "the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine until the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country."

It said the decision took effect immediately.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly, Editing by Timothy Heritage)