Dressed in a suit and tie and sitting in front of three Ukrainian flags, Viktor Yanukovych behaved as if he was still Ukraine's leader as he refused to accept the reality of the seismic shift of the last week.

Around 200 journalists found their way to see Yanukovych, 63, make his first appearance in front of the world after his dramatic flight from his country to Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called for a rapid return to normality in Ukraine and warned against any further escalation of unrest, in telephone calls with key EU leaders, the Kremlin said.

Putin emphasized "the extreme importance of not allowing a further escalation of violence and the necessity of a rapid normalization of the situation," the Kremlin said after Putin had separate phone calls with British premier David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Union president Herman van Rompuy.

Ukraine's ousted president Viktor Yanukovych on Friday gave a partial and sometimes confusing explanation of his whereabouts since his disappearance last week and how he crossed into Russia.

Yanukovych reappeared in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Friday after not being seen in public since February 22.

Pro-Russian activists flexed their muscles in in Crimea on Friday, swarming government buildings after Kalashnikov-toting men in fatigues descended on two key airports, as tensions mounted over the strategic Ukrainian peninsula.

Hundreds of pro-Moscow protesters in Crimea's capital Simferopol massed outside the regional parliament -- seized Thursday by separatist commandos -- as 50 others formed a barricade outside the Ukrainian presidency's local office, blocking its newly designated director from going inside.

Deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych insisted Friday in his first public appearance since fleeing to Russia that he had not been overthrown and would continue to fight for the future of Ukraine.

Yanukovych told reporters in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don that he had been "compelled to leave" Ukraine after he received threats to his security.

A Moscow court on Friday ordered Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny to be placed under house arrest after a request from investigators probing an alleged embezzlement case.

Navalny, who last year was given a suspended five-year sentence in a separate timber embezzlement case, faces charges in this case along with his brother Oleg of stealing and laundering a total of 51 million rubles ($1.4 million) from cosmetics company Yves Rocher and a Russian firm.

Crisis-hit Ukraine's central bank on Friday announced it was imposing a limit of around a 1,000 euros on daily bank withdrawals as the national currency plunges to record lows.

The bank said it was slapping a limit of 15,000 on withdrawals (1,095 euros, 1,400 dollars). The hryvna has plunged nearly 20 percent to record lows since the start of the year as tensions soared between the new pro-West government in Kiev and old master Moscow following the ousting of the country's pro-Russia president.

The White House on Thursday reinforced U.S. warnings to Russia that it must avoid "miscalculations" in military drills along the border of troubled Ukraine.

The comments, which built upon statements by U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, appeared to reflect Washington's concern that Russian maneuvers near the ex-Soviet state could trigger events which may get out of control.

Russia had little option other than to offer sanctuary to deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, even if there is little love lost between him and President Vladimir Putin, analysts said Thursday.

Yanukovych is now widely believed to be in Russia after he released a statement saying he had asked Moscow to ensure his security and sources in the country said his wish had been satisfied on "Russian territory."

The United States on Thursday denounced what it said was the growing use of security forces by repressive regimes to crackdown on a worldwide groundswell of pro-democracy protests.

"The fundamental struggle for dignity, for decency in the treatment of human beings... is a driving force in all of human history," Secretary of State John Kerry said as he released his department's 2013 human rights report.