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Moscow won’t send its observers to Ukraine since Kiev has refused to accredit Russians as members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), TASS reports, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Ukraine’s Central Election Commission had earlier announced its "illegitimate" decision to reject the ODIHR’s request to accredit 24 Russians as part of its mission to monitor the March 31 presidential election, the ministry said. In February, ODIHR received Kiev’s refusal to accredit two Russian women, who planned to head to Ukraine as long-term observers of the mission. "Now these steps were "justified" by new amendments that the Verkhovna Rada hastily passed in February when the ODIHR mission was being deployed in Ukraine," it said.

"These discriminatory steps of the Ukrainian authorities prevent Russian experts from taking part in the ODIHR observation mission. Against this background, Russia is forced to refuse to send its observers to Ukraine in order not to subject them to a threat of certain prosecution," the ministry stated.