Russian president Vladimir Putin blamed outside actors for mass protests in Keiv, which he said amounted to an attempt to unsettle Ukraine's legitimate rulers.
"This reminds me more of a pogrom than a revolution," Putin told reporters on a visit to Armenia.
Protests broke out over the weekend, with as many as 350,000 seeking to force President Viktor Yanukovich from office with a general strike after hundreds of thousands demonstrated against his decision to abandon an EU integration pact.
