German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that Russia risked "massive" political and economic damage if it refused to change course on Ukraine.

"If Russia continues on its course of the past weeks, it will not only be a catastrophe for Ukraine," she said in a speech in Parliament, her strongest statement since the start of the crisis.

"We would not only see it, also as neighbors of Russia, as a threat. And it would not only change the European Union's relationship with Russia. No, this would also cause massive damage to Russia, economically and politically."

A senior Russian lawmaker said military units are occupying positions in Crimea in case of armed attack from Kiev, AFP reported.

"Now there are some military units there who are occupying positions in case there is such resistance, armed aggression, armed expansion from Kiev," Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma's committee for relations with former Soviet republics, told Echo of Moscow radio station. He said that troops could be required if Sunday's referendum on Crimea's joining Russia prompted armed intervention from Kiev, which he said was likely.

"Therefore in this case, yes, some military units are occupying positions here, since such an incursion, unfortunately, especially in the days when the referendum is held, is highly likely," he said.

He said troops would only act in the case of an armed attack from Kiev.

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