The main airport in Crimea's regional capital, Simferopol, has been operating normally under the control of pro-Russian armed men who have taken over government buildings in the region and have encouraged Moscow-backed ousted president to make his first public appearance since he disappeared.

At least 40 pro-Moscow armed men annexed a number of government buildings and marked their roofs with Russian navy flags in Crimea, a region with a Russian ethnic majority.

Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee and Robin Forestier-Walker report from Simferopol.