Moscow, Jan. 2 -- Russia's Defence Ministry has denied reports of a strike on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, calling the claims false, Sputnik reported.

"Information about the alleged strike on the city of Kharkov by the Russian Armed Forces on January 2 of this year is untrue," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Russian armed forces neither planned nor carried out any missile or air strikes within the city on January 2, Sputnik reported.

"The Kiev regime's claims about the alleged 'Russian strike on Kharkov' are intended to distract international attention from the brutal terrorist attack committed by the Ukrainian armed forces against civilians in the settlement of Khorly in the Kherson Region overnight into January ...