Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the Ukrainian Armed Forces to take power in Kyiv into their own hands, RBC reported.

His remarks came at an urgent meeting with the Russian Security Council.

"I appeal to the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: do not allow the neo-Nazis and Benderovites to use your children, wives and elderly people as human shields, take power into your own hands. It will be easier for us to come to an agreement with you than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have settled in Kyiv and taken the entire Ukrainian nation hostage," he said.

Putin also said that Russian officers in Ukraine "act bravely, professionally, heroically".