Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaliy Churkin says it was the ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych who asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage the Russian army to restore order in Ukraine.

"As lawfully elected president of Ukraine, I'm addressing President Putin with the request to use the armed forces of Russia to restore order on the territory of Ukraine," Churkin quoted Yanukovych at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday evening.

Churkin said that Yanukovych's address was dated March 1, 2014.