Posted on 01/17/2010 9:25:28 AM PST by Grzegorz 246
KIEV (Reuters) Ukraine voted for a president on Sunday in an election marked by widespread disillusionment as an economic crisis grips, but one which is crucial to its relations with Russia and the European mainstream.
It is the first presidential election in the former Soviet republic of 46 million people since the "Orange Revolution" mass street protests in 2004 broke the grip on power of a sleazy post-Soviet leadership.
In an ironic twist, the frontrunner in Sunday's vote is opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich, once seen as a pro-Moscow stooge, whose rigged election in 2004 sparked those protests.
Opinion polls up to the start of the year, when their publication ceased under local law, consistently put the 59-year-old Yanukovich, a towering, barrel-chested man backed by Ukraine's wealthiest industrialists, out in front.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Well the Ukrainians know that the Obama Administration won’t have their backs, so they will go back into the arms of the Bear.
Spoke with friends today. Exit polling shows Yanukovitch with a very strong lead over Yulia Timoshenko.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.