Thousands take to streets of Kiev to denounce Vladimir Putin's military moves in Crimea and prepare for mobilisation

A febrile pre-war atmosphere gripped Kiev on Sunday as Ukrainians turned out in their tens of thousands to denounce Russia's moves in Crimea and signal a determination to resist any further incursions from their eastern neighbour.

A day after ugly confrontations in Russian-majority cities Kharkiv and Donetsk, inhabitants of the capital said they were ready to respond to calls for mass mobilisation from the new leaders in Kiev.

"We are asking all those who have been called by the defence ministry to show up at the mobilisation stations," Andriy Parubiy, secretary of the Security and Defence Council, said.

And outside the parliament building, there were many prepared to heed his call.

"I'm a lieutenant of reserve," said Andry Cherin, a 29-year-old scientist. "I will go to the recruitment office. I'm against war, but there are no other choice, we need to defend our country. This is our land."

"Russians don't need war," he added. "I think there are only Putin's ambitions."

Liudmyla Naumenko, a 50-year-old philologist, added: "They [the Russians] were calling us their brothers, and now they are going to kill us. I have a 23-year-old son I'm very worried about him. But I spoke to him today and told him that he needs to go and defend the country."

Ukrainians were shocked by Saturday's images from Kharkiv showing Ukrainian nationals being paraded through a crowd of Russians who beat them with sticks and kicked them. There were similar scenes in Donetsk. Donetsk-based oligarch Serhiy Taruta wrote on Saturday: "I call on all who cherish Ukraine and its future, everyone, whose heart is torn by today's news, to consolidate their efforts for preserving of integrity of our state."

Even Rinat Akhmetov, a long-term ally of ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich, warned of the threat to the territorial integity of Ukraine. "The future of our country has been put under threat. The internal political tension threatens to escalate into a lengthy conflict and destroy the integrity of Ukraine. The use of force and lawless actions from outside are unacceptable. I believe that the crisis must only have a peaceful solution."

Given the mismatch of military forces -– Russia's military manpower outnumbers Ukraine's by 7:1 – Ukrainian leaders are calling not just for mass mobilisation but also for outside help. MP Lesia Orobets said: "We need western support. Any type of support they can provide is welcomed. We are under Russian aggression. Russia declared war."

But with western support an unlikely contingency, many Ukrainians were looking to protect themselves. "I'm 80, but I will take a gun and will be defending my land," Leonid Kravchuk, independent Ukraine's first president, wrote on his blog.