MOSCOW, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Kiev's intention to prevent Russian observers from monitoring Ukraine's presidential elections proves that it is trying to hide something from the public, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The ministry in a statement accused the Ukrainian authorities of making "anti democratic, anti people decisions," which is indicated by the intention of Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to prevent the accreditation of Russian representatives to the election observation mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

"It seems that the authorities have something to hide," the ministry said.

Last week, Klimkin said he had sent a letter to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) asking to reject applications from Russia's monitoring mission.

The ODIHR dismissed the request, saying that it was another discriminatory measure with clear political motivation, which is unacceptable.

On Dec. 31, Ukraine has officially kicked off the campaign for presidential election slated for March 31 this year.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC) reportedly closed its polling stations in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-ton, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg on the same day.

Klimkin later explained that it could be "dangerous" for Ukrainians to vote in the country's presidential election in Russia.

Kiev has repeatedly accused Moscow of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs and being involved in the conflict in the Donbas region, which Moscow has refuted as unacceptable and baseless.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stressed the need to attract international observers to monitor the election campaign, saying it would be an additional guarantee of the transparent electoral process. Enditem

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