Ukraine's perennial champions Dynamo Kiev said Friday they were pulling out of Spartak Moscow's inaugural match at their new stadium because of the raging Crimea crisis.

The highly-anticipated friendly at Spartak's new 42,000-seat Otkrytiye Arena had been scheduled for July 24.

But Dynamo said in a brief statement that it could not send players to Moscow "taking into account the current political relationship between Ukraine and Russia."

Relations between the two ex-Soviet neighbours effectively broke off last month when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in response to the overthrow in Kiev of a Moscow-backed president.

Spartak and Dynamo enjoyed a fierce rivalry in the Soviet era and have traditionally looked on at each other with respect.

The 500-million-euro ($685-million) Otkrytiye Arena's construction began in 2010 and experienced repeated delays.