Pro-Ukrainians and pro-Russians held rival rallies in Crimea’s capital Simferopol on Sunday, a week before the regional parliament’s proposed referendum on leaving Ukraine and joining Russia.
Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators at a similar rally in the port city Sevastopol were attacked by Cossacks wielding whips, reports the Guardian.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who is due to travel to the US to discuss the crisis, insisted that Ukraine would never relinquish Crimea to Russia, saying:
"Our fathers and grandfathers have spilled their blood for this land. And we won't budge a single centimetre from Ukrainian land. Let Russia and its president know this."
According to Reuters, German chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have rebuked the Moscow-backed referendum in a phone call to Russia’s President Putin, calling the move illegal and unconstitutional.
Russian troops have also been seizing control of Crimean border control posts, trapping 30 personnel in their 11th capture.