Simferopol, Mar 2 (ANI): The Russian Federal Council has approved President Vladimir Putin's request to use armed forces in Ukraine, amid rising tensions in Ukraine's Crimea region, where ethnic Russians make up the majority. The Kremlin website said Putin made the request in connection with the extraordinary situation in Ukraine, the threat to the lives of citizens of the Russian Federation, their compatriots, and the personnel of the military contingent of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation deployed in the territory of Ukraine (Autonomous Republic of Crimea). The troops would be used until the "political-social situation in the country is normalized," Putin added.