SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — Over the epicenter of the biggest geopolitical crisis the world has seen in a while, a strange silence hangs in the air after a weekend of pop-up protests the city's center.
Remnants of the pro-Russia demonstrations are still around in Crimea's capital, Simferopol. Men in unmarked uniforms guard streets, and buildings with machine guns and bands of men with orange and black ribbons have taken to moving about the city in clumps. A Russian flag still hangs over the Crimean Parliament building.
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Inside of the local administration building in Simferopol — a five-minute jaunt from the Parliament building — a group of three guards sit near around while a few people mill about in suits.
The guards — who refused to give their names because they were not supposed to be talking to journalists — can't quite remember which flag was hung when over the building.
"On Wednesday, was that when the Russian protesters came?"
"Ah, I don't remember. What flag is up there now?"
"The Crimean one, I think?"
"Yeah, that's right."
A group of pro-Russian protesters on Thursday walked from their main gathering area on the steps of the nearby Crimean Parliament building and took down the Ukrainian flag as a gesture of disagreement with the government in Kiev. By Friday afternoon, a Crimean flag hung in place of both Russian and Ukrainian.
The majority of Crimeans don't necessarily identify themselves as either "Russian," or "Ukrainian," but rather as simply "Crimean" — a group apart that deserves independence.
But Crimea's quest for greater autonomy might not be quite as simple as switching around the flags.
On Monday morning, Russia warned the Ukrainian Navy that it will attack if the Ukrainians do not defect. Over the weekend, an estimated 6,000 Russian troops arrived in Crimea. They surrounded several military bases, encouraging protesters to defect, according to news reports.
The interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov has began calling up the country's military reserves. He, along with interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, have urged the West to increase its support for the new Ukrainian government.
"I just want things to settle down," said Eugene, a thirty-something Crimean resident who refused to give his last name. He was wandering around the center of Simferopol, trying to figure out what exactly had happened over the weekend.
Some have said the arrival of Russian troops is a good thing because it will help Crimea reassert its autonomy within the Ukrainian government. Others the Russians are using Crimea for geopolitical leverage against the new Ukrainian government. A minority of Simferopol residents expressed a desire to become Russian residents.
Everything that's going on in Simferopol is odd, Eugene said. Whatever the result of the events, it would be nice if the men with machine guns went away, he added.

Heavily armed, masked men on a street near the Crimean Parliament building in Simferopol, Ukraine.
Some residents have said these guards in green camouflage are Russians, but others have denied this. Men in identical attire — with automatic weapons of a similar style — periodically guarded the Crimean Parliament building, starting on Feb. 27. These men were also guarding a local administration building near Simferopol's Lenin statue.
But political theatrics — and curious Simferopol residents — aside, the city seems to be moving about as normal. Now, the heavy guard around the Crimean Parliament building in the center of the city and the parades of pro-Russian protesters have died down.


The Simferopol Parliament building.
A group of Crimean Tatars on Wednesday organized outside of the parliament in support of the new government in Kiev. The Tatars clashed with a group of pro-Russian demonstrators who assembled nearby in protest against the new government in Kiev. On Thursday at around 4 a.m., armed, masked guards were reported to have invaded the parliament building and threw a hand grenade at an Associated Press reporter who was trying to confirm their identity.
Since then, guards have stood around the parliament building. Sometimes it was possible to get close. Other times there was a 20-meter circle around the building for "safety reasons." On Thursday, there was an odd combination of pro-Russian protesters, a karaoke stand and a lot of confused residents.

A woman in Crimean Tatar garb dj-ing outside the Crimean Parliament building that has armed Russian men inside. A few moments later, the man on her left began singing along on a microphone.

The crowd unfurled a giant Russian flag at a pro-Russia rally over the weekend in Crimea.

A pro-Russian protester talks with reporters on Thursday.
While some pro-Russian protesters sincerely want to be part of Russia, others said they wanted Russia's help in gaining more independence from Kiev. Many residents in Crimea have followed the Russian media's account of EuroMaidan protests and sincerely believe that Kiev is now under threat from Fascists and rabid nationalists.
On Monday morning, however, there were no guards in sight, and we were able to open the door and speak to the security guard, who said the building was closed "for renovations." No timeline was available for how long those alleged renovations would last.

While the guards are gone, the Russian flag is still noticeably hanging over the parliament building. The door guard was still wearing a Ukrainian uniform.

In a square nearby the Crimean Parliament building, a statue of Vladimir Lenin stands. While anti-government protesters around Ukraine have torn down Lenin statues as a symbolic gesture that they are getting rid of Soviet-era thinking, the one in Simferopol remains. The local communist party chapter let people cast ballots earlier today to decide if Lenin should stay or go.

A local Simferopol resident making the vote: should Lenin stay or go?
It is unclear, and perhaps entirely unlikely, if these "elections" will have any real effect on the statue's future.
Katherine Jacobsen is a Kiev-based freelance journalist. Before she bought a one-way ticket east, she was with The Christian Science Monitor in Boston covering tech stories and national news. Katherine has a Master's degree from Columbia's School of ...More