MOSCOW, April 3 (RAPSI) – A criminal case has been opened against Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov over obstructions of voting during Russia’s Presidential Elections, the Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko has said.

As reported earlier, Russian nationals residing in Ukraine could not take their vote on March 18 because of the Ukrainian authorities’ actions.

According to investigators, Avakov ordered police officers securing protection of Russian diplomatic institutions in Kiev, Lviv, Odessa and Kharkiv to keep Russians, who were going to vote in the election, out of polling stations located there.

Therefore, Avakov and his accomplices violated rights and interests of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Petrenko said.