Toronto

The allegations by the Canadian government that Russia is behind an attack on a hospital ward in the city of Mariupol is based on a fabrication permeated by Kyiv, the Russian Embassy in Ottawa said.

"Russia unequivocally rejects [the] Canadian government's groundless accusations of having allegedly attacked a maternity hospital in Mariupol. Video and photo footage attempting to present a damaged hospital building as a result of a 'Russian airstrike' is nothing but a blatant lie. It is yet another outrageous provocation by the Kyiv regime. A climax of the fake news dissemination campaign," the Russian Embassy said in a statement on Thursday.

The Russian Embassy condemned the story saying it was staged and noted that Canadian media has not made any attempt to independently verify the veracity of Kyiv's claims. Russia is conducting strikes in Ukraine with "surgical precision" and the Ukrainian troops and allied neo-Nazi battalions continue to use the civilian population as shields. Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Illia Kyva, who fled the country, also said he was confident that the story regarding the attack on the Mariupol maternity hospital was a false flag.

"Ukraine is filled with lies and deception. The history of the tragedy in the hospital of Mariupol - another staging and fake," Kyva said on Telegram. Mariupol is the site of an intense battle where surrounded Ukrainian troops and neo-Nazi and other extremist battalions have dug in against advancing Russian and allied troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics.

The latter has said are intending to end eight years of bloodshed in the area initiated by Ukrainian troops and assorted extremists. On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics against the intensified attacks by Ukrainian troops.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation was solely targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure and has emphasized the civilian population is not in danger.

ALSO READ: Facebook, Instagram to allow posts calling for violence against Russians