"The position of the Russian naval headquarters is firm: the Yalta lighthouse must be returned to Russian hydrography services and must function normally in order to ensure the security of navigation in the Black Sea region," Russia's naval commander-in-chief Vladimir Masorin said.

"I have given the order to the commander of the Black Sea fleet to take back control of the lighthouse, by use of methods of civilized discussion," Masorin was quoted by Interfax as saying.

The move to seize control of the beacon intensifies a larger dispute about Russia's lease of Ukrainian territory for its Black Sea warships, and amid intense rancor over a price hike Russia recently imposed on its natural gas sales to Ukraine.

Under a lease agreement signed in 1997, Moscow pays Kiev just under 100 million dollars (83 million euros) annually to lease land and property for its Black Sea headquarters in Sevastopol, the southern Crimean port where the fleet was based in the Soviet era.

Last month Ukraine talked of quadrupling the cost of the lease payments. Russia has said the lease cannot be revised.

Russia has accused Ukraine of "seizing" the Yalta lighthouse during a maintenance trip to the beacon.

Kiev has argued that "all hydrographic sites and navigation equipment on the Crimean coast, including the beacon for the Yalta commercial seaport, are the property of Ukraine".

It said the lease allowing the presence of Russia's fleet does not also give them use of the surveying and navigation equipment in place.