A Ukrainian protester lobs a burning gasoline bomb into a doorway. A police officer writhes in agony on the ground. Smoke and flames rise from burning barricades in Kiev.

Footage of violence in the Ukrainian capital was beamed almost nonstop into Russian homes by state television Wednesday, accompanied by apocalyptic warnings of civil war next door and accusations of meddling by foreign states.

The pictures ram home the message that President Vladimir Putin wants to put across: The violence has gotten out of hand and must be stopped.