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Ukraine's deposed President Viktor Yanukovych says Russia's annexation of Crimea is "a tragedy" and he hopes it will become part of Ukraine again.

In an interview with the Associated Press and Russian channel NTV, he also said he gave no orders to open fire on protesters in the capital, Kiev.

Mr Yanukovych fled Kiev after protests in which more than 100 people died.

Meanwhile, a top Nato commander says Russian forces could seize swathes of Ukraine in three to five days.

Moscow is believed to have massed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine's eastern border in recent days, causing alarm in Kiev and the West.

General Philip Breedlove, Nato's top commander in Europe, said all the elements were in place for a rapid advance, including armour, mechanised units, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and all the logistics needed to back them up.

Russia annexed Crimea in southern Ukraine last month following a controversial referendum branded illegal by Kiev and the West. The peninsula has a majority ethnic Russian population.

Moscow has insisted it has no intention of invading Ukraine.

'Protest vote'

Mr Yanukovych, now in Russia, said he would try to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to return Crimea to Ukraine.

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Ukraine Crisis: Viktor Yanukovych Decries Crimea 'Tragedy'

In an interview with The Associated Press and Russia's state NTV television, Ukraine's ousted president Yanukovych said Wednesday, "Crimea is a tragedy, a major tragedy."

In his first interview since fleeing to Russia, he vowed to try and persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to return the Black Sea peninsula.

However, he insisted the referendum wouldn't have happened if he had stayed in power and that it was a response to threats posed by radical nationalists in Ukraine.

Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February after three months of escalating anti-government protests sparked by his decision to back out of an association treaty with the EU in favor of strengthening ties with Russia.

'I was wrong'

Yanukovych also said it was a mistake to have invited Russian troops into Crimea.

"I was wrong," he said. "I acted on my emotions."

Yanukovych said he has spoken with Putin several times since he arrived in Russia and said he hopes to have more meetings to negotiate Crimea's return to Ukraine.

"We must search for ways ... so that Crimea may have the maximum degree of independence possible ... but be part of Ukraine," he said.

Russian troops quickly seized Crimea, which has an ethnic Russian majority. Putin justified the move as protection for the mainly Russia-speaking population.

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Ukraine's ousted president, Yanukovych, calls Crimea annexation a 'tragedy'

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