OREANDA-NEWS. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the data on the alleged forced sending of Ukrainian refugees to the Russian Federation do not correspond to reality. This was announced by the Kremlin representative during a briefing.

"It's a lie. This is not true," Peskov stressed.

He commented on the claims of Ukraine and the West that the refugees were supposedly being evacuated to Russia by force.

Ukrainian refugees voluntarily come to Russia, the press secretary of the Russian head of state added.

"The Russian military helps civilians to leave Mariupol, to leave places where life is dangerous, and they help, despite the fact that, as it has already become known, these people are in danger when they try to leave these settlements, because they are simply shot in the back. There are already a large number of stories of direct eyewitnesses on this score," Peskov said.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided to conduct a military special operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the heads of the LPR and DPR.

The decision to conduct the operation was the reason for new sanctions against Russia by the United States and its allies.