Pro-Russian activists, some armed, have stormed the HQ of Ukraine's navy in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
Several Ukrainian servicemen have left, the Russia flag is flying and there are reports that Ukrainian navy chief Serhiy Hayduk has been detained.
It comes a day after Crimean leaders signed a treaty with Russia absorbing the peninsula into Russia.
Sunday's disputed referendum, which officials say backed splitting from Ukraine, has been widely condemned.
Crimean and Russian officials say the vote showed overwhelming public support for joining Russia, with 97% of voters in favour.
But the West and the Ukrainian government in Kiev say the referendum - organised in two weeks and boycotted by many of Crimea's Ukrainian and Tatar minorities - was illegal, and the results will not be recognised.
But the West and the Ukrainian government in Kiev say the referendum - organised in two weeks and boycotted by many of Crimea's Ukrainian and Tatar minorities - was illegal, and the results will not be recognised.
On Wednesday, Russia's constitutional court approved the treaty as legal.
The BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow says there is no doubt that parliament will also give its full backing to the treaty when it votes on Friday.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh has reportedly been ordered to head to Crimea amid the rising tensions.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Crimea's Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, who is in Moscow, as saying: "Nobody will let them into Crimea, they will be sent back."
Servicemen leaving
An officer inside the Sevastopol base told the BBC that some 200 pro-Russian activists had broken down the gates and gone inside, using an ambulance car.
Several of the pro-Russians were armed though there were no reports of shots being fired
A Ukrainian serviceman is cheered by pro-Russians as he leaves the base in Sevastopol
Pro-Russians remove a safe from the Ukrainian naval building
The senior Ukrainian officer at the scene was negotiating with them, he said.
Later, there were reports that Ukrainian navy chief Serhiy Hayduk had been detained and taken away from the base by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
A number of Ukrainian servicemen were seen leaving the base. There have been no reports of clashes or shots being fired.The port city of Sevastopol is home to the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Ukrainian navy spokesman Sergiy Bogdanov told AFP news agency: "There are about 200 of them, some wearing balaclavas.
"They are unarmed and no shots have been fired from our side. The officers have barricaded themselves inside the building," he said.
He said even though Kiev had authorised the military to use force in Crimea in self-defence "we are not doing so and will not do so".
Reports are also emerging of a similar incident at a Ukrainian navy base in Novo-Ozyorne, western Crimea.
Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Vladyslav Seleznev said a tractor had rammed the gates of the compound and pro-Russians had entered the base.Sanctions 'consequences'
On Monday, the US and the EU imposed sanctions on several officials from Russia and Ukraine accused of involvement in Moscow's actions in Crimea.
Brussels and the White House have said the sanctions will be expanded now that the treaty on Crimea has been signed.
Moscow has warned this is "unacceptable and will not remain without consequences".
The Ukrainian crisis began last November after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych ditched an EU association agreement in favour of stronger ties with Moscow.
He fled Ukraine on 22 February after protests in which more than 80 people were killed.
Crimea has been part of Ukraine since 1954 but has a predominantly ethnic Russian population.
Pro-Russian forces effectively took control of the peninsula in late February and gunmen seized buildings, including the parliament.
The prime minister was removed from office on 27 February by a vote of no confidence and replaced by pro-Moscow Sergei Aksyonov, leader of the small Russian Unity party, who called the referendum.
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