Thousands have taken to the streets of Ukraine's second-largest city carrying banners saying "Kharkiv is Ukraine" and "stop Russian aggression", as the country braced for a possible military offensive from Russia.
Weeks of diplomacy between the West and Moscow have produced no breakthrough after Russia amassed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's borders.
Moscow denies it has plans to attack Ukraine but has demanded security guarantees, including a block on Ukraine joining the NATO alliance.
Kharkiv, an eastern industrial city that lies just over 40 kilometres from the Russian border, was identified by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a possible Russian target, though his spokesman later said he was speaking hypothetically.
The demonstrators with Ukrainian national flags and posters marched in the centre of Kharkiv, Source: AP
Demonstrators in Kharkiv sang the national anthem and waved Ukrainian flags on Saturday, or held up flags of allies that have supported Kyiv, including the United States, Britain and the European Union.
"The people came into the streets to demonstrate that Kharkiv is a Ukrainian city and we will not surrender it," said Kharkiv resident Nina Kvitko.
Meanwhile, the first US troops reinforcing NATO allies in Eastern Europe have arrived at Rzeszow military base in southeastern Poland.
A small plane carrying what a Polish military source said were US chain of command personnel landed at Rzeszow-Jasionka airport as preparations continued at the base, which is near Poland's border with Ukraine.
TV footage showed temporary accommodation being prepared at the G2A Arena in the nearby town of Jasionka, while workers could be seen building a fence around the venue.
"As announced, the first elements of the brigade battle group from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army have arrived in Poland," a Polish military spokesman said.
The US army confirmed that the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, US Army Major General Christopher Donahue, had arrived in Poland.
Poland's Defense Ministry says that additional US troops have started to arrive. Source: AP
On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden ordered nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to shield Eastern Europe from potential spillover from the Ukraine crisis.
About 1,700 service members, mainly paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, will deploy from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland in coming days, US Army sources have said.
According to the Pentagon, a squadron of around 1,000 US service members based in the German town of Vilseck will be sent to Romania.
The first additional US troops from the 18th Airborne Corps arrived in Germany on Friday.
"Our Corps' presence serves to bolster existing US forces in Europe and demonstrates our commitment to our NATO allies and partners," spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps, Captain Matt Visser, was quoted saying in a statement on Saturday.
Russia has denied planning to invade Ukraine but has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and says it could take unspecified military measures if its demands are not met, including a promise by NATO never to admit Kyiv.
