UNITED NATIONS, February 5. /TASS/. Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky has drawn the US attention to the fact that the Ukrainian army continues its shelling of residential areas in Donbass, he wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

"While the West continues its hype about alleged Russian plans for attacking Ukraine, Ukrainian army openly continues its routine-shelling of residential areas and killing and maiming civilians brazenly breaching [the]Minsk Agreements. Where is USAmbUN (the US ambassador to the UN - TASS) reaction?" he said.

The West and Kiev have recently been spreading allegations about Russia’s potential ‘invasion’ of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.