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Supporters of the right wing party Pravyi Sektor block the entrance to the Ukrainian parliament. Photo: AFP

Kiev: Beneath the scorched, black facade of the Trade Union building in Kiev's central square, armed nationalists who stoked the deadly overthrow of Ukraine's previous rulers are undermining their successors.

A month after the uprising, militants in camouflage gear and flak jackets line up empty glass bottles ready to be turned into Molotov cocktails, defying demands to abandon their arms. Some of the protesters who fought riot police for regime change are now turning on the new administration. One of their commanders was killed in a firefight with police this week.

"The people who are still here helped install the new authorities but now they want to slip out of our control," said Vyacheslav, 40, a Pravyi Sektor (Right Sector) activist in sand-coloured US military fatigues. He declined to give his last name because of the tensions. "We'll stay to keep them in check."

Pravyi Sektor maintains a dominant presence on Independence Square. Photo: AFP

As Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk races to stave off bankruptcy and grapples with Russia's takeover of Crimea, his interim cabinet is battling unrest among former allies within the country's borders. Nationalist groups risk damaging security, discrediting the government and handing Russia a pretext to push its forces further into Ukraine, which Russian President Vladimir Putin says is in the grip of fascists.

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Nationalists, including supporters of the anti-immigration Svoboda party, fought shoulder-to-shoulder with pro-European demonstrators for three months to topple president Viktor Yanukovych in street battles that cost more than 100 lives in the capital.

Some are now challenging the government's ability to maintain order or fight the corruption rampant under Mr Yanukovych. Protesters have yet to leave the tent camp at Independence Square,the core of opposition since last year and where Pravyi Sektor, an umbrella group uniting movements that rely on nationalist rhetoric and some that display neo-Nazi symbols, maintains a dominant presence.

"The government understands that the existence of ultra-right wing players gives the Kremlin leverage over domestic politics," said Alexei Makarkin, a deputy director at the Moscow-based Centre for Political Technologies."That's why they've given this ultimatum to disarm."

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Ukraine crisis: armed nationalists keep tensions simmering in Kiev