During an emergency Cabinet of Ministers meeting on March 16, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that Ukraine’s eastern border has been almost completely shut down with Russia. Many Russians have been refused entry to Ukraine if they are suspected by border guards of being sent to Ukraine to stir up demonstrations or cause violent unrest. Deadly demonstrations have taken place in the last week in Kharkiv and Donetsk, killing at least three people.

Yatsenyuk said: “Now on the territory of Crimea there is a circus spectacle directed by Russia. This spectacle is so-called referendum which is held at the gunpoint of the 21,000 Russian soldiers. Because of this invasion, Russia has ended up in international isolation. The entire world condems Russia for its military aggression against Ukraine. We have asked the OSCE to send the international observers to Ukraine. I hope that at the special meeting of the OSCE this decision will be made. Ukraine will find all the instigators of separatism which are trying to destroy Ukraine’s independence and are working under the Moscow’s cover up. They will be judged in Ukrainian and international courts. There will be no place where they will feel free, and Russia will not protect them.”