Ukrainians confidentDemonstrators who have remained encamped in Kyiv's central Independence Square to defend the revolution that ousted Yanukovych have mixed reactions to any potential secession.
They are "certainly concerned about the referendum in Crimea — what that means for family there, for holidays there," CBC's Susan Ormiston said from Ukraine.
"They see it as a foregone conclusion that Crimea will take that vote and decide to join Russia.”
Despite Putin's tough words, however, many demonstrators who have remained in Kyiv's central Independence Square said they did not believe Crimea would be allowed to secede.
Some said they were willing to go to war with Russia, despite the mismatch between the two countries' armed forces.
"We are optimists. Crimea will stand with us and we will fight for it," said Taras Yurkiv, 35, from the western city of Lviv. "How we will fight depends on the decisions of our leadership. If necessary, we will go with force. If you want peace, you must prepare for war."
A boy photographs military personnel, believed to be Russian servicemen, standing outside the territory of a Ukrainian military unit in the village of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol on March 4. Amid the upheaval, Ukrainians are finding time to stop for a photographic memento. Here's a selection.
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In Crimea, the situation was calm, although 35 unarmed military observers dispatched by the pan-European Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were denied entry into the peninsula on Thursday and Friday after landing in the southern Ukrainian port of Odessa.
CBC correspondent Nahlah Ayed tweeted from Crimea: "After three negotiation attempts, military observers likely to stop trying to get to Crimea [Friday night], will try again tomorrow."
The observers would be able to make the first independent look at whether the troops are Russian or are "local self-defence forces," as Putin has claimed.
A UN special envoy who travelled to the regional capital Simferopol on Tuesday was surrounded by pro-Russian protesters, some of them armed, and forced to leave on Tuesday. The United Nations said it had sent its assistant secretary-general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, to Kyiv to conduct a preliminary humans rights assessment.
Ukrainian television was switched off in Crimea on Thursday and replaced with Russian state channels.
The streets largely belong to people who support Moscow's rule, some of whom have become increasingly aggressive in the past week, harassing journalists and occasional pro-Kyiv protesters.
Part of the Crimea's two million population opposes Moscow's rule, including members of the region's ethnic Russian majority. The last time Crimeans were asked, in 1991, they voted narrowly for independence along with the rest of Ukraine.
Ayed said Crimeans who oppose joining Russia held a gathering in Simferopol on Friday that they took pains to say was not a protest, but a rally for peace.
"They want to be able to disagree with the idea of this place joining Russia without leading to violence," she said.
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