Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk on Monday accused Russia of stirring up a fresh wave of unrest by fomenting separatist sentiment in eastern Ukraine.

"There is a scenario written by the Russian Federation, which is aimed at dismemberment and destruction of Ukraine," Yatsenyuk told an urgent cabinet meeting.

Ukraine faced a fresh secessionist crisis when pro-Russian activists seized several government buildings in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, demanding independence from Kiev and a referendum on joining Russia.

The political pressure on Kiev's embattled leaders reached boiling point on Sunday when thousands of activists chanting "Russia" seized administration buildings in Kharkiv and Donetsk as well as the security service headquarters in the eastern region of Lugansk.

The Donetsk activists went one step further on Monday by proclaiming the creation of a sovereign "people's republic" in the region of about 5 million people. Local administration building on Monday was surrounded by about 2,000 Russian supporters - some of them armed.

According to footage aired on Ukraine's Channel 5 television, an unidentified speaker asks Putin to send a "peacekeeping contingent of the Russian army" to Donetsk to help the region stands up to Kiev's rule.

Ukraine's latest bout of political turmoil prompted Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to send his deputy Vitaliy Yarema to the region in order to establish a semblance of control.

The declaration and subsequent appeal for Russian military help should Kiev's new pro-Western leaders resist their independence drive put the nation of 46 million in danger of disintegration and added still more pressure on Western powers to act.

Several heavily pro-Russia eastern regions want to stage a referendum on joining Russia when Ukraine holds snap presidential polls on May 25 both two frontrunners want to tie the vast country's future to Europe and break its historic dependence on its eastern neighbor.

Yatsenyuk said activists were seeking to destabilize the situation in the area, which would lead to an appeal for Moscow's help and intervention to protect Russian-speaking citizens.

Moscow has not yet pulled back troops from the border, Yatsenyuk said, adding that Russian troops are deployed 30 kilometers away from Ukraine's eastern borders.

The unrest marked a fresh wave of pro-Russian rallies in Ukraine following the demonstrations in Crimea in early March, when the Kremlin-friendly Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted.

On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty for Crimea to become part of Russia after the referendum on March 16.