The Ukrainian military has only a token force in the autonomous republic of Crimea — a lightly armed brigade of about 3,500 people, equipped with artillery and light weapons but no tanks.
The forces also have only one air squadron of SU-27 fighters deployed at the air base near Belbek, which is now in the hands of Russian military.
Ukraine’s small naval fleet had been boxed in by Russian warships. Many high ranked officers defected.
The reports of defections are coming almost solely from Pravda Russian news outlets. As to whether Ukraine has the ability to eject the Russians, it comes down to Ukraine's willingness to sacrifice. If it is willing to trade the lives of tens of thousands of its young men for those of tens of thousands of Russian servicemen, Russia will run, not walk, to its side of the border before this is over.