Ukraine beefs up military amid Crimea tensions

KIEV - Ukraine has declared a partial military mobilization in response to what the government has called the "worsening socio-political situation on the Crimean peninsula."

The decree by acting President Alexandr Turchynov was approved by parliament Monday.

Crimea crisis

Some 40,000 military reservists will be deployed to boost the country's defence force within the next 45 days. Half of them would be called up through armed forces units and half through the newly created National Guard, said Security and Defence Council secretary Andriy Parubiy.

Earlier in the day, the mostly Russian-speaking peninsula declared independence from Ukraine and applied to become part of Russia.

Latest official results show 96.77 percent of Crimean voters chose to join Russia in a referendum Sunday.

Last week, Ukraine's acting defense minister, Igor Tenyukh, said Kiev would try to peacefully resolve the Crimea crisis through political dialogue, but added that the armed forces were ready to repel possible aggression.

The Crimea crisis began in late February following the ouster of pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.