KiEV, Ukraine - Ukrainian voters streamed to the polls on Sunday to replace their toppled president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, whose ouster four months ago in a bloody civic uprising set off a cascade of geopolitical turmoil, including Russia's invasion and annexation of Crimea and a continuing separatist insurrection in the east that largely prevented balloting there.
Voter surveys in recent days showed the pro-Western billionaire Petro Poroshenko, a veteran of Ukrainian politics, holding a wide lead over his strongest rival, former Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko. Attention was focused mainly on whether Mr. Poroshenko would get at least a majority, more than 50 percent of the vote, needed to avoid a runoff. If not, it will prolong Ukraine's political uncertainty.
Despite the obstacles in the east - where as many as 80 percent of the polling stations in some areas are unable to function - international observers said they expected robust turnout elsewhere in the country and the vote to receive generally high marks in meeting standards of fairness.
In Kiev, there were long lines at polling stations and voters generally expressed resolve that the country needed to open a new chapter in its history - with a new leader - although many expressed some disappointment in the candidates.
Mr. Poroshenko, 48, a longtime member of Parliament, briefly served as speaker, and was minister of trade and economic development under Mr. Yanukovych and foreign minister under President Viktor Yushchenko.
'We are stuck in everything,' said Tatyana Zhukova a retired engineer who said she had just voted for Mr. Poroshenko at the National Linguistic University here. 'I don't see new leaders.'
Others said they were casting their vote for Mr. Poroshenko, and hoped he would be different than previous leaders. 'We want to believe,' said Mariya Tsepennikova, who came to vote with her husband, Oleksandr, and their 2-year-old son, Giorgi.
The couple said that regular Ukrainians would also have to do their part. 'Much depends on citizens,' Ms. Tsepennikova said. 'You always have to sacrifice for a motherland.' Her husband added, 'There must be changes.'
There is no doubt Ukraine has sacrificed. More than 100 people, including protesters and police, died during clashes in Kiev, most after the Yanukovych government attempted a violent suppression of the uprising in mid-February. In the end, the deaths only fueled public anger.
The crisis in Ukraine, which began six months ago when Mr. Yanukovych broke a promise to sign political and economic accords with the European Union, upended the post-Soviet security order and set off the worst confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War, including military maneuvering, volleys of economic sanctions and travel restrictions.
The interim government, led by Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, has taken steps toward finalizing the agreements that Mr. Yanukovych abandoned, and many voters said they were intent on seeing Ukraine continue on this pro-European path.
Ilya Danko, 31, an architect, said he had voted for Mr. Poroshenko with the hope of calming the political situation by avoiding a second round. 'It's like choosing the best from the worst,' Mr. Danko said. 'We have great tension now in some regions,' he said. 'I think it's very important to cool down these things and to end this as soon as possible.'
Mr. Danko, who was wearing the hood of his sweatshirt over a baseball cap and participated in the months of street protests that led to Mr. Yanukovych's ouster, said he had no doubt that Ukraine should follow a European course.
'I personally just compare for many years Ukraine and Poland; because we were at the rather same starting point about 15 years ago,' Mr. Danko said. 'Now when I go to Warsaw or Krakow, I see a European country, a very economically developed country and Ukraine, the main problem is this corruption, it has blocked the normal flow of evolution of development of the country.'
While Sunday's vote had long enjoyed broad support of leaders in Europe and the United States, who view it as a crucial step to installing a pro-Western government, in recent days the balloting has also received the tentative backing of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who had previously threatened to use military force to protect pro-Russian residents of east Ukraine.
'We will respect any choice made by the Ukrainian people,' Mr. Putin said in St. Petersburg on Saturday at a round-table interview with international news agencies. In recent days, however, Mr. Putin has also said that he still regards Mr. Yanukovych, who is living in southern Russia, as Ukraine's legitimate president.
During the session with news agencies, Mr. Putin proposed another Ukrainian billionaire, Viktor Medvedchuk, who is known as an ardent supporter of Russia, to serve as a mediator between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists. Although the proposal was self-serving - Mr. Putin is said to be godfather to Mr. Medvedchuk's daughter - it was still a sign that talks rather than further military action are now on the horizon.
Violence, including sporadic mortar shelling and gunfire continued in eastern Ukraine throughout the weekend, and separatists had made clear that they would do everything possible to disrupt the election. On Sunday, about one-fifth of the Donetsk region's nearly 2,500 polling stations were open as of 9:30 p.m., according to local monitors.
Outside School No. 5 in central Donetsk, people walking dogs and holding newspapers strolled up to a locked door. 'Such a shame,' said Tatyana Minaeva, 53, a stewardess, said, holding a small brown dog on a leash. 'I live in Ukraine and I want to vote for Ukraine. I feel so helpless. They've created some new planet here and taken away our rights.'
Some pointed out that the sign posted on the door had spelling errors, a fact that they said spoke to the education level of separatists controlling the region. Others noted that the school had opened without any problem for the public referendum two weeks ago on demanding autonomy from Ukraine.
'I'm so upset,' said Sergei, 42, a businessman, who was holding a tiny plastic cup of coffee and declined to give his last name. 'I'm a citizen of Ukraine. I want to register that and they aren't letting me.'
Away from Donetsk, the regional capital, the election seemed to be faring better. In Mariupol, a large city to the south, that was liberated from separatists earlier this month, nearly all polling stations were open, local monitors said.
Many people said they simply did not want to vote. In the small town of Dokuchayevsk, whose welcome sign has the word 'Russia' scrawled in red spray paint underneath, a small group of people sat at a bus stop discussing the election.
Much of the talk at the bus stop was of Soviet days, when life was stable and money was sufficient.
'We don't want to vote with those fascists, it's not possible to live with them,' said Sergei Boltenko, 52, a machinist at gravel factory, who was drinking a beer at 1 p.m. 'They are forcing their Ukrainian will on us.'
Townspeople supported the separatists, they said, and brought them food. So when they came to shut down the town's main polling station this morning, few objected.
'If they don't understand us, why should we understand them?' said his wife, Lydia Guseva, 54, referring to people in western Ukraine. She said her eyes had been opened since she started getting Russian television a few months ago.
Posted by Unknown on Monday, May 26, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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