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People swimming in the cold waters of the harbour of Sevastopol hold Russian national and navy flags to mark their support for Russian forces, as a Russian Navy ship remains stationed in the background, on March 15, 2014. Ukraine braced for a breakaway vote in Crimea as deadly violence flared again in the ex-Soviet country’s tinderbox east amid the biggest East-West showdown since the Cold War. AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV