Exit polls place pro-Kremlin Yanukovych as new president of Ukraine

AN EXIT poll says opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has been elected Ukraine’s next president, steering the country away from the pro-Western course set by the 2004 Orange Revolution.

The National Election Poll predicted the Russia-leaning Yanukovych would finish first in yesterday’s runoff ballot against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, 48.7% to 45.5%.

Tymoshenko, whose impassioned leadership of the 2004 Orange protests made her an international celebrity, has vowed to challenge a vote she claims was rigged. Some pro-Western Ukrainians fear Yanukovych could bring a retreat from Western democratic reforms, and the muzzling of media and opposition parties.