Urij Alexejchuk, a member of the Ukrainian air force, kisses his wife, Sveta, through the perimeter fence of a Ukrainian air force base, which is blockaded by pro-Russian forces, at in Lubimovka, a town in the Crimean region of Ukraine, March 17, 2014. On Monday, the parliament of the breakaway republic of Crimea declared independence, formally asking Russia to annex it and moving swiftly to cement the rupture with the central government in Kiev.URIEL SINAI/The New York Times