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Seized the building. john kerry testified russia is using paid operatives to illegally stabilize ukraine. he says it is clear it came after russia was warned that any force in ukraines eastern region could result in a civil war. >> its clear that russian forces and agents have been the catalysts in the last 24 hours. no one should be fooled and is fooled by what could be a contrived pretext for military intervention as we saw in crimea. and did you see this? a fist fight in ukraines parliament...

Needlessly whipping up tension. thats the pot speaking. ambassador nicholas burns joins us, hes a former state profession of political affairs. theres no truth to that, is there? >> the russians, shep, its obvious whats happening, putin is using his crimea playbook for eastern ukraine. i find the charges to be highly credible. its putins way of trying to whip up unrest in those big, ethnic russian cities in ukraine. that would give a pretext to the russians to take further measures perhaps well ...

Reporting from washington. russia is is now warning that ukraine could be on the brink of civil war. that warning comes as ukrainian troops began cracking down on pro-russian demonstrators in eastern ukraine. as many as 70 people were arrested in an anti-terrorism operation. demonstrators had taken control of several government buildings during a senate hearing just a little while ago, secretary of state john kerry put the blame squarely on russia. >> no one should be fooled, and believe me, no ...

Groups. weve had two crowds in two eastern ukrainian regions, hoping to follow crimeas lead and break away from ukraine after occupying local government buildings. one of these flash points is in the eastern city of havkev, where the government says theyve had an anti-terror operation, arresting 17 people. south of there in donetsk, another crowd is still occupying a government building, saying the region declared independence and it will hold a referendum to join the russian federation. theyve ...

Continues to do so. and you said that the bigger goal, going back to georgia four years ago or whatever, is to create buffer states around russia. explain that. >> well, putin thinks -- he lives in the 20th century in his mind. he thinks that if you win, he loses. so hes trying to create a band of buffer states around russia, countries that will be truly neutral, wont be part -- in terms of e.u. and n.a.t.o. so those countries by intimidation of russia and georgia and belarus and ukraine. ukrain...

Now for malaysia flight 370, thats coming up in a moment. first, another important story were following, the crisis in ukraine, now intensifying in the eastern part of the country. cnns phil black is monitoring the situation for us in russia, not far from the ukrainian border. phil, what are you picking up, whats the latest? >> reporter: well, wolf, we know that a number of major cities in the eastern part of ukraine, pro russian protesters have taken over. some of them are calling for russian...

Has been concerned about for some time now. people crossing the border from russia into ukraine with the intention of causing trouble, creating the sort of instability that could give russia the pretext to take further action. ukrainian government has said theyve stopped around 10,000 people from entering the country because they believe russians were heading in there to cause trouble. russias blanket statement is it is not responsible for the instability in ukraine. this is the fault of the new...

I am very worried they will not hold together. >> and quickly in ukraine blaming moscow for seizing government buildings in ukraine. do you see the possibility of russian troops to go in better or less than a week ago. >> i think you would have to say the chances are greater. we have seen the movie before. the ukraine government are right they are russian agitators and dont underestimate the feeling of the pro russian on the provinces. and the kremlin is creating a pretext for further troop invo...

We were unable to see a makeshift ukrainian post set up by the border guard. about 200 men we saw. theyve been positioned since march 5th when tensions rose. they say their morale is high and they would fight if they were forced to after the developments they saw in crimea. but the biggest concerns for ukrainian officials is what happens in places like da nansk. thousands of showed up to call on the russian government to intervene and protect their interests. why thats so the important for the u...

Several days. weve actually made it out to the ukrainian russian border. we were unable to see a makeshift ukrainian post set up by the border guard. about 200 men we saw. theyve been positioned since march 5th when tensions rose. they say their morale is high and they would fight if they were forced to after the developments they saw in crimea. but the biggest concern for ukrainian officials is what happens in places like donetsk, where we are today. thousands of showed up to call on the russia...