this is donetsk a top one of the buildings, the ukrainian flag. before that the the russian flag, then the ukrainian flag, then the russian flag. there's concern there may be a referendum here. that would be more problematic. skwraeupl republicjames reynold donetsk. >> this has been the center of protest and counter-protest in recent days. pro-russian demonstrators came here and swept their way in and raised the russian flag. but they have been conclude out. the building retaken by ukraine's authorities. as you can tell by this line standing and guarding the building. it is two offices deep. just as a precaution, have a look there. there are two trucks guarding the entrance. the deputy mayor of the city told the bbc he thinks a referendum may be a chance to caulk tensions to give a chance to decide its own status. there is a lot of skepticism. but for now these offices have their orders. they won't let anyone through. >> they are sending an unarmed team from 23 states. sit trying to enter crimea having been turned back yesterday. well, let's go to

for instance, they are sending more to donetsk, the flashpoint. so we will see how that will develop. there is an initiative, some kind of political offer to talk rather than to brandish weapons. >> we are seeing threats from the eu and the u.s. realistically, will we get any strong sanctions like germany? >> well, this is debatable. the policy of the european union seems to be more coherent. germany and its eastern neighbors in the baltic states. >> will russia be worried about that. >> it is difficult to say. depending on the quality of sanctions and whether they top the top echelon of ministers. >> could be even more tough sanctions. tomorrow president putin will be addressing the parliament. this is the tpfrt time we will hear what his positions are and how he plans to respond crimean referendum. >> many thanks. 26 countries now involved in a vast search over a widened area for the missing malaysia airlines plane which disappeared a week ago. authorities revealed they think it was the co-pilot of the missing aircraft that spoke the last word t

rallies are taking place in donetsk, eastern cue crain and moscow. the ousted president viktor yanukovych is expected to speak tomorrow. >> i think definitely. this invitation by president obama to the interim prime minister here are very clear show of support for the interim government and proof of the fact that united states and much of the international community do see the government here in kiev as a legitimate one, at least until elections later on in may. so therefore saying we're supporting ukraine repeated i suppose that idea that moscow is committing an act of aggression in crimea. and the position of the international community led by the united states that russian troops need to withdraw back to their bases. we haven't seen any sign of that. no real sign that pressure is having an impact. we have seen president putin say in a phone call with the british prime minister and with the german leader talking about the fact that an international contact group is a possibility. talking about the fact at least he will discuss that possibility with

there have been pro and anti demos in donetsk and other places there. so far the situation seems to be more or less under control under the central kiev authorities. today president yann coacher spoke just across the border saying i'm still the president. i'm alive. i will be back in ukraine when the conditions are right. he didn't explain about what the conditions are right. on the statement repeated quite a lot of things that were kim f coming out earlier. nazis in power. i'm the legitimate president. everybody should agree with me. >> many thanks indeed for joining us. >>> oscar pistorius murder trial, the court heard more evidence from reeva steenkamp's postmortem report. findings contradict a previous statement by pistorius over when the couple went to sleep that night. oscar pistorius denies intentionally killing his girlfriend. nomsa is outside the courthouse. bring us up to date. what has happened so far today? >> reporter: well, despite the constant grilling from defense attorney barry roux, the state pathologist was adamant reeva steenkamp did

as ukraine has tried to reenforce their border, a unit of officer cadets was sent to the donetsk region. one of them was born in the area. with many people in the region supporting russia, maxim told the bbc they were far from welcome. >> translator: we came to reenforce the border. we're learning how to do it. our goal is not to fight with russia. we came here to train. that's it. people here are generally okay, but i can't understand why they want to kick us out. yesterday we spoke to them. they told us they don't want a war here. we didn't come here to fight. the locals are afraid for their lives. most of their fears are based on rumors. people write a lot about us on the internet now. we read it and just laugh. i feel really ashamed of the people from my region. i thought they would treat us well here. i'm disappointed. i am ukrainian and i serve the people of ukraine. the things which are going on in politics right now have nothing to do with me. >> stay with us here on "bbc world news." i'm nik gowing. still to come, amazing images from houston in texas, how this construction work

in what is hoping in donetsk and other cities. we could not leave this address without attention. we could not leave them in trouble. otherwise it would be just betrayal. >> they had to create additions for peaceful and freewill of people so the crimean people could discern and say for themselves for the first time in history. in western europe and the united states tell us that they violate international laws. better late than never. but secondly, it is not important. the president of the russian federation received the right from russian parliament to use military force in ukraine. so far this has not been used. military forces of russia have never entered crimea. they were there in accordance with international agreement. this strengthened our troops. i want to underline we have not competed the limited number of troops in crimea. 25,000 troops. there was no necessity for that. crimean parliament was acting in accordance of the status of you u.n. i want to remind when ukraine was declaring leaving the uss r. did very much e the same almost by the letter the same. they protected

they won't let anyone through. >> james reynolds in donetsk. there is a sizable minority who feel very uncomfortable the way things are evolving over the course of the next few weeks. let's talk about what the west and international community can do. we saw the u.n. special envoy came here to simferopol in crimea and of course was taken away by gunmen and driven back to the airport and left very quickly afterwards. a delegation is supposed to come here, the unarmed military observers and supporters. 23 of them travel anything two buses. yesterday they were turned away from the border. they are trying again today. david, we're going to watch that very closely. they're due to arrive in the next hour. >> christian, thank you very much indeed. a fast moving story on "gmt" and on "bbc world news". let's catch up with some of the other stories around the world. a court in malaysia convicted the leader on charges of sod my. it overturns his a quilts on the same charges two years ago. it is punishable by 20 years in prison. his lawyers have already sai

. >> they were yesterday in donetsk. they are observing military installations there. at the same time we met some flights. the limitation of the treaty in the region. and there is ongoing discussion on amon toring operation in ukraine. >> ambassador, some of the observers managed to get up to the russian border accompanied by ukrainian military. how are they being viewed within ukraine now, your observers? >> they are supported by ukrainian authorities. they are now in the process of observing. and we are expecting. >> here we have video of them. they were e close to the russian border. what are they reporting back to you and how easily are they able to operate in ukraine? >> they are not indicating any operational difficulties at this moment. >> what about your efforts to get into crimea which is part of ukraine? >> of course. this is part of the negotiation we're having within the the organization. we hope we will be able to achieve soon an agreement monday for a mission that should have the strept of more than 100 people in ukraine, including crimea. >> you always

russian troops still surround ukraine's military bases here in the eastern city of donetsk. a government building has been contested for four days. kerch is another ukrainian military base. 12 coast guard ships broke free of the russian blockade. they fear they were going to be sunk by the russians. and this is the east of mainland ukraine. it appears to be russian armed forces patrolling outside a military base. there it is, the russian flag flying there. well, let's go live to bbc's ben brown who joins me from sevastopol in crimea. ben? >> reporter: nik, thank you very much. it is the political development that's really crucial today. and i think the referendum that has been caused by the parliament today will be on march 16th. 78 votes in favor. just 8 abstentions. do you want to be part of ukraine or do you want to be part of russia? the answer is likely to be russia. because the majority of the population here in crimea, almost 60%, are ethnic russians. we're hearing vladimir putin, the russian president has been discussing that request to be part of russia with his sec