As the standoff between Russian and Ukrainian warships and troops hardened Wednesday, foreign military observers were on their way to monitor movements of self-defense militias and Russian forces. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, an intergovernmental group devoted to crisis management, said 18 of its participating states were sending 35 observers to Ukraine "to dispel concerns about unusual military activities." The United States is one of the parties. Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council secretary, Andriy Parubiy, accused Russia of redeploying its troops in Crimea to hide its actions from the OSCE mission.
