Ukraine is edging towards "the point of no return", a senior UN official says, amid rising tensions between security forces and pro-Russia separatists.
UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic told the BBC that the crisis had worrying echoes of the 1990s war in his native Croatia.
Reports from eastern Ukraine say clashes between government forces and separatist militants have continued.
The separatists have not taken part in EU-brokered talks to defuse the crisis.
On Saturday, they appointed a prime minister for what they call the People's Republic of Donetsk.
The man, Alexandr Borodai, said the self-proclaimed entity would apply to join Russia.
The separatists have taken control of government buildings across cities in south-eastern and southern Ukraine
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I firmly believe that there is a window of opportunity that should be used”
Ivan Simonovic UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights
Violence between the two sides has left dozens of people dead in recent weeks.
A new Ukrainian president is due to be elected on 25 May.
Mr Simonovic told the BBC: "What I'm really afraid is that country is approaching to a point of no return if there is no adequate and urgent action taken."
The UN says it has documented countless incidents of abduction, torture and murder in south and eastern Ukraine.
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