Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk vowed not to give up "a single centimetre" of Ukrainian territory during a speech in Kiev on Sunday. Yatsenyuk was attending an event commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of the country's greatest poet Taras Shevchenko.
His words were echoed by Vitali Klitschko, a leader of the protest movement. meanwhile in Crimea, more than 4,000 people gathered at the regional capital of Simferopol to show support for unification with Moscow.
On March 16, Crimea will vote in a referendum asking if the region should join Russia.
Ukrainian troops are now performing training exercises at their bases. Acting Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh said on Sunday there were no plans to send the country's armed forces to the Crimea region.
