Ukrainian troops seized the Crimean Tatar battalion military base located in Kherson on Sunday night, following a row which broke out between Ukrainian soldiers and members of the battalion.

Rıfat Çubarov, Chair of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and Ukrainian parliament member, said Ukrainian soldiers tried to physically harm Tatar volunteers during the brawl, before confiscating their military base situated in the southern Ukrainian province of Kherson, next to the Crimean peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

Officials from the National Guard of Ukraine, and the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine reportedly launched an investigation into the issue.

The Crimean Tatar battalion was established in 2015 to assist the state border guard service of Ukraine.

The fall of Crimea into the hands of Putin's Russia in 2014 was a frightening reality for Crimean Tatars, as it signaled an end to the freedom they had enjoyed within Ukrainian territory with regard to Russian provocations against the Crimean Tatar minority in the annexed territory.

Russians make up the vast majority of the population in Crimea, with 5 million ethnic Russians residing in the Ukrainian part of Novorossiya. The mass deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 also caused many to fear Russian policies.

Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu reiterated Turkey's policy regarding Russia's annexation of Crimea on February 10, saying that the annexation is illegal and that Turkey is determined to support territorial sovereignty and political unity.