Friday 02 May 2014 16.15 Russia has called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the "serious escalation of violence in Ukraine," where security forces have clashed with pro-Moscow separatists.
Diplomats said the meeting, the body's 13th on Ukraine since the start of the crisis, would be held later today.
Seven people have been killed in the eastern city of Slaviansk, including two Ukrainian servicemen who died when two military helicopter were shot down by pro-Russia rebels.
Three separatists and two civilians were killed in a military offensive in the city.
Acting president Oleksander Turchynov said Ukrainian border troops had rebuffed attempts by Russian "armed saboteurs" to cross into Ukraine overnight.
He also said that he operation to retake Slaviansk had not progressed as quickly as he hoped, complicated by pro-Russian rebels hiding "behind the citizens" and "firing from apartment blocks".
In the southern port city of Odessa, hundreds of separatists attacked a rally of around 1,500 people demonstrating for national unity.
Police intervened to try to break up the violence, which left dozens wounded on both sides.
There are reports that one man was shot dead in the violence.
Russia has accused Ukraine of launching a "criminal" assault that wrecked hopes of peace.
Ukrainian forces appear to be carrying out one of their most concerted military operations yet, but their advance on the ground has been limited.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of firing on civilians from the air in a "punitive operation" that destroyed an international peace plan.
Russia was "extremely worried" about the fate of Russians in the city, including an envoy sent to help free German and other foreign hostages, the Kremlin spokesman said.
The dramatic language seems to raise the stakes, as Russia has tens of thousands of troops massed on the border.
It is claiming the right to invade if needed to protect Russian speakers.
Journalists in Slaviansk, the most heavily fortified bastion of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, heard shooting break out and saw one helicopter opening fire before dawn.
Ten hours later, the city was largely quiet, with shops shut and armed separatists in control of the streets.
Advancing Ukrainian forces in armoured vehicles took up positions closer to the suburbs, but rebels still controlled most of the city of 130,000.
The pro-Russian militants have made other moves, seizing a rail control centre for the Donetsk region, a railway official said.
By cutting off power, they had all but paralysed train traffic.
Ukraine said the firing of missiles that brought down its helicopters was evidence that Russian forces were present in the town. Russia denies that its troops are on the ground.
Nonetheless, Kremlin accounts of grave threats to civilians highlight the risk of a Russian move to seize territory ahead of a vote the rebels aim to hold on 11 May.
They are seeking a mandate to break away from Ukraine in a vote similar to one held in the Crimea region before Russia annexed it in March.
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