The BBC's Natalia Antelava visits Ukrainian soldiers on the border with Russia
Russia will respond if its interests in Ukraine are attacked, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, drawing a parallel with the 2008 Georgian war.
Speaking to Russian state TV channel RT, Mr Lavrov also accused the US of "running the show" in Ukraine.
And in a statement, Russia's foreign ministry repeated its call for Ukraine to withdraw military units from the country's east.
Ukraine's government faces an armed revolt there by pro-Russia separatists.
Kiev and the West say Moscow commands gunmen in eastern Ukraine - something Russia denies.
In recent weeks, pro-Russian militants have seized administrative buildings in at least a dozen towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
They have installed their own officials, in similar tactics to those used to take over the Ukrainian region of Crimea earlier this year.
The US has called on Moscow to ask pro-Russian gunmen to lay down their weapons and leave public buildings. It has also urged Russia to tone down its aggressive rhetoric or face further sanctions.
'Like in Georgia'
It was "quite telling" that Kiev had re-launched its "anti-terrorist" operation in the region on Tuesday during a visit by US Vice-President Joe Biden, Mr Lavrov told Russia Today.
"If our interests, our legitimate interests, the interests of Russians have been attacked directly, like they were in South Ossetia for example, I do not see any other way but to respond in full accordance with international law," Mr Lavrov said.
Russian fought a brief war with Georgia in the summer of 2008 after Tbilisi sent troops into the breakaway region of South Ossetia to regain control from the Russian-backed rebels.
Thousands of Russian troops have massed along Ukraine's borders in recent weeks.
Mr Lavrov added: "There is no reason not to believe that the Americans are running the show."
He also reiterated accusations that Kiev had failed to fulfil commitments laid out in the 17 April Geneva accord designed to end the crisis.
The EU and US accuse Russia of controlling the gunmen, and of failing to honour the Geneva accord.
'Torture claims'
Meanwhile, the standoff in towns across Donetsk region appears to be intensifying.
A pro-Kiev local councillor was found dead on Tuesday near the flashpoint city of Sloviansk.
Ukrainian officials said Volodymyr Rybak's body suggested he had suffered "brutal torture".
And the US state department has said it is "deeply concerned" at reports that pro-Russian militants in Sloviansk are holding American journalist Simon Ostrovsky, who works for Vice News.
Unrest began in Ukraine last November over whether the country should look towards Moscow or the West.
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At the scene
As you drive into Krasnoarmiisk, a large sign declares "Glory to the Coal Miners!".
This is an industrial town and people here are proud of their working tradition. One resident told me: "We're too busy working to play politics."
But not everyone is "too busy".
On the square outside the local administration building, 100 people gathered to demand a referendum on greater autonomy for the Donetsk region.
The town square meeting appeared to have been organised by activists from the city of Donetsk 70km (43 miles) away. Some of the local residents in the crowd seemed suspicious of the visitors.
An argument broke out in front of me between two ladies: one said she supported a united Ukraine and claimed the crowd was being "duped" by separatists; the other denounced the government in Kiev and praised Russia and the Soviet Union.
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