KIEV, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a law that bans Russian observers from monitoring the country's upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, according to a statement published on the presidential website on Tuesday.
The legislation, which was passed by the Ukrainian parliament on Feb. 7, bans Russian citizens from being an official observer at Ukraine's elections either as a representative of a foreign state or an international organization.
According to the explanatory note, the law was adopted to prevent "Russia's intervention in Ukraine's elections" and prevent "information attacks" aimed at distorting facts about the electoral process in Ukraine.
Last month, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said he had sent a letter to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which is an institution of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and known for its role in observing elections, asking it to reject applications from Russia's monitoring mission for Ukraine's elections.
Both Ukraine and Russia are members of the OSCE.
The Russian foreign ministry said it regards Ukraine's refusal to accredit Russian observers as a "gross violation" of international obligations in the sphere of generally accepted electoral procedures.
The presidential election in Ukraine is scheduled to be held on March 31, while parliamentary elections have been set for Oct. 27.
Relations between Kiev and Moscow have been deteriorating since early 2014 over Crimea and the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.
