Opposition challenger 'leads presidential race'

Opposition challenger Viktor Yushchenko won a resounding victory over Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine’s presidential race today, collecting 58% of the vote, according to an exit poll.

The poll, conducted under a programme funded by several Western governments including the US, was based on responses by 20,000 voters at polling places throughout the country up to 1300 GMT, according to the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, which co-ordinated the effort.

The foundation said results from 10,000 more voters who cast their ballots later in the day would be available in several hours.

A separate exit poll showed Yushchenko in the lead, but more narrowly: 49.4% to 45.9.

The reported result was likely to sharply increase post-election tensions. Yushchenko’s supporters have widely claimed that election officials intend to falsify the results and his followers have gathered at a downtown Kiev square to conduct a “parallel vote count”.

Yushchenko foes allege that the rally is part of an effort to increase civil unrest with the aim of seizing power. The Central Elections Commission office was heavily guarded by riot police today and several armoured vehicles were deployed on its territory.