Ukraine has initiated a procedure of filing a lawsuit with the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) over violations by Russia of an anti-terrorism convention, Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.

"We have started filing with the UN International Court of Justice a lawsuit over Russia's violation of the convention on countering terrorism," the prime minister told the government on Tuesday.

He added that Ukraine will be defending its national security in international courts, he added. "We have filed a number of lawsuits in Russia with the aim of compensating for the losses caused by Russian military aggression against Ukraine," he said.

Two lawsuits over Russia's actions are already at the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights), Yatseniuk said.