Evgeny Feldman, a staff photographer for the Russian publication, Novaya Gazeta, visited a checkpoint Saturday on a road a few kilometers north of Crimea. On either side of the checkpoint, Ukraine forces faced their Russian counterparts in a vivid microcosm of the global, east-west struggle over Crimea.

In one area near the Russian encampment, it appears that a minefield has been dug.

His excursion took place as tension escalated in Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula. Warning shots were fired to prevent an international observer mission from entering Crimea, and there were new reports of Russian reinforcements arriving there.

Here is a collection of photos Feldman took on Saturday morning in and around the city of Chonhar, along with his observations.
Everyone here is armed. Some combatants are wearing Ukrainian police uniforms, the same uniform that Berkut riot police officers wore during clashes in Kiev. Others are dressed in pixel camouflage uniform, that is said to be available only for Russian army. There are few Cossacks, too.
Rumors appeared yesterday about Russian-flagged soldiers digging hollows for border columns here. I had no confirmation on that, but when asked, soldiers who showed me the camp said there is a minefield in this area.
As you can see here, there were signs reading “Attention! Minefield.” I am no expert in weapons, but I was told on Twitter that these might be anti-tank mines.
This monument in front of Chonhar city hall is very symbolic. Situated on a flat peninsula, Chonhar is windswept from all sides; the wind is so strong it is sometimes difficult to stand straight up. The monument itself is dedicated to those who died here in WWII when the Soviet army fought Nazi soldiers who had occupied Crimea.
Chonhar is placed between two checkpoints on Yalta-Kharkiv roadway. Local residents are afraid of becoming a target and say they don’t want soldiers of the Russian army stationed in their neighborhood. Those concerns are expressed in various ways. Schools have been closed since Wednesday; here, a Ukrainian flag flies above a bus stop, and rumors have spread around about pets being killed in minefield explosions.
This Russian-flagged checkpoint is close to Sivash, a system of shallow lagoons also called the Rotten Sea. The wind here is even stronger and most of combatants try to stay in tents or around the field kitchen. There are several Russian flags in the air, but no one admits he is from Russia.
Soldiers search cars that are passing by and check drivers’ documents. The person that met me at the checkpoint received the approval from an officer to show me the camp.
I was asked not to photograph armored personnel carriers that are dug in the grounds with machine guns ready to fire. But the soldier let me in the tent chapel that is also used as a bedroom.
25 kilometers from the Russian encampment, Ukrainian soldiers have set up a checkpoint. They have similar tents, dug-in armored personnel carriers and some machine gun and mortar positions. All of them are armed, too, but the magazines of some have their assault rifles have been detached.
A Ukraine soldier rests along a roadway near the checkpoint.