KIEV (REUTERS) - Ukraine on Monday denounced the visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Crimea, describing it as a "crude violation" of the rules of international behaviour.

"The Ukrainian foreign ministry, in its note to the Russian Federation, expressed a categorical protest and stated that the visit of an official person to the territory of another state without preliminary agreement is a crude violation of the rules of the international community," ministry spokesman Evhen Perebiynis told journalists.