Russian forces tightened their grip on Crimea yesterday despite a US warning to Moscow that annexing the southern Ukrainian region would close the door to diplomacy in a tense East-West standoff.

The whereabouts of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych were unclear today, a day after he left the capital and his arch foe Yulia Tymoshenko was freed from prison and returned to Kiev to address a massive, adoring crowd.

Hours after her release from prison, former Ukrainian Prime Minister and opposition figurehead Yulia Tymoshenko appeared before an ecstatic throng at the protester encampment in Ukraine’s capital today.