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Russia discusses media access to Ukraine elections in OSCE

Earlier, reports emerged that most Russian journalists will not receive accreditation to cover the Ukrainian presidential elections

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Russia is already raising the question with the OSCE on the access of Russian media to cover the presidential elections in Ukraine, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told reporters on Wednesday.

"We are already discussing [this question in the OSCE]. The Russian Foreign Ministry works on a daily basis, same as our mission in Vienna. These contacts happen on a constant basis," Karasin said.

"However, so far we haven’t learned about any positive results needed for our media to travel," he added.

Earlier, the Izvestia newspaper reported citing sources in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) that most Russian journalists will not receive accreditation to cover the Ukrainian presidential elections. According to the newspaper, the journalists who "advance Moscow propaganda" will not be allowed to cross the Ukrainian border. The Ukrainian presidential election is scheduled for March 31. According to a "Rating" group poll results, presidential candidate Vladimir Zelensky retains his top position in the polls, with about a quarter of the voters willing to cast their votes for him. Yulia Timoshenko comes second (18.3%), incumbent president Pyotr Poroshenko is in third place (16.8%), Civil Position party leader Anatoliy Grytsenko is fourth (10.3%) and in fifth place is the presidential hopeful from the Opposition Platform - For Life party Yuri Boiko (9.9%).

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