Update:  Reports of the defection of the frigate Hetman Sahaidachny are being denied by the Ukrainian military.  The ship is reported to have be sighted in port in Crete still flying the Ukrainian flag.

There are reports that the Ukraine’s Navy flagship, the frigate Hetman Sahaidachny, is refusing to follow orders from Kiev and has defected to Russia.  The ship is returning home after taking part in NATO operation in the Gulf of Aden and is claimed to be flying the Russian naval flag.

Ukrainian Navy flagship takes Russia’s side – report
“Ukraine’s Navy flagship the Hetman Sahaidachny has come over to our side today. It has hung out the St Andrew’s flag,” Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the committee on the international affairs, told Izvestia daily.  He said the flagship is on its way back to the Black Sea after drills in the Mediterranean.

“The crew has fulfilled the order by the chief commander of Ukraine’s armed forces Viktor Yanukovich,” he added. The move comes after the Navy command resigned Friday. Self-appointed President Aleksandr Turchinov made Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky the new Navy Chief, a statement published on the President’s website Saturday said.