Ukraine's parliament endorsed a presidential decree Monday to deploy 40,000 reservists to its army and national guard, only hours after Crimea voted to join Russia.
Crimea, a southern peninsula with ties to Russia, voted overwhelmingly in a referendum on Sunday to rejoin Moscow's rule.
Andriy Paruby, secretary of the Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said 20,000 reservists would be deployed with the Ukrainian armed forces and the rest within a newly created national guard, according to Reuters.
On Monday, the Crimean parliament voted in favor of formally asking to be annexed by Russia. The parliamentary speaker said all Ukrainian military units in the region would be disbanded, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
The speaker, Vladimir Konstantinov, told the news agency that members of the axed units would be able to stay in the region.
The Crimean referendum came after weeks of pro-Moscow demonstrations on the Black Sea peninsula and occupations of strategic positions by "self-defense forces."
