Ukraine opposition prepare for strike action

Opposition leaders in Ukraine prepared today for a nationwide strike to protest the government’s decision to name Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych winner of a presidential election amid allegations of vote-rigging.

Backed by thousands of protesters who spent a fourth night outside in the bitter cold in Kiev, reformist candidate Viktor Yushchenko and his allies called yesterday for an “all-Ukrainian political strike” after election officials declared the Kremlin-backed Yanukovych the winner of a bitterly disputed run-off denounced by Western observers as fraudulent.