DPA/Kiev

Ukrainian traffic police halted a Russian army lorry column reportedly loaded with cruise missiles, the Interfax news agency reported yesterday.

The stand-off took place in the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol after Ukrainian officials stopped and ticketed Russian service personnel for operating military vehicles in an urban area without having proper permits.

The Russian military unit - two lorries towing covered trailers and some two dozen soldiers - initially stood its ground, interfering with civilian traffic, the website Korrespondent reported.

The trailers were loaded with anti-ship cruise missiles, Korrespondent said, citing eyewitnesses.

Senior Russian naval officers arriving on the scene discussed the conflict with the Ukrainian traffic police, and, after an hour’s delay, the lorries and Russian service personnel returned to the nearby fleet headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, local media reported.

Last week, in a similar incident, Sevastopol traffic police turned back Russian marines attempting to drive a pair of armoured personnel carriers through city streets.