MOSCOW, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday criticized Ukraine's decision not to allow Russians in the country to vote in the Russian presidential election scheduled for Sunday.

It said in a statement that the move "violates international human rights norms and does not fit in the definition of a civilized state."0 According to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, the security personnel deployed by Ukraine at Russian diplomatic missions in cities of Kiev, Kharkiv, Odessa and Lviv will not provide ordinary Russian citizens access to voting.

"Only persons with a diplomatic status will be allowed to access these institutions," Avakov said in a post on his Facebook page Friday.

Ukraine said the planned ban came as Russia ignored a February request from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanding that the March 18 election not be held on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 and which is viewed by Ukraine as "temporarily occupied territories."

"(Russians) casting votes in Russian diplomatic and consular offices in the territories of Ukraine would be possible only if Russia fulfilled the aforementioned requirement of the Ukrainian side," Avakov said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement that Kiev's decision had contradicted international conventions and agreements, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950.

"It is an obvious attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation," it said, adding that it will lead to "the escalation of tensions in the bilateral relations, which are already strained."

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Crimea and held an election campaign there Tuesday. As a result of Russia's annexation of Crimea, polls will open on the peninsula Sunday when Russians nationwide cast their votes in the election.

Avakov said in his Facebook post that "as of today, the Russian Federation has not abandoned its unlawful intentions."

Russia and Ukraine have been experiencing hostile relations since Russia seized Crimea in 2014 following a referendum in which local residents voted sweepingly in favor of the peninsula joining Russia as a federal subject.

Prior to that, the peninsula comprised two subdivisions administered by the Ukrainian government, namely, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.