Voting has kicked off in Ukraine. You can follow us (@RFERL) or the #вибори2012 and#elect_uahashtagson Twitter. There are also live video feeds from nearly all of the polling stations.
08:3528.10.2012
RFE/RL correspondent Andrii Bashtovyi has a nice Instagram shot of the ballot:
Can President Viktor Yanukovych maintain his dominance over Ukrainian politics? How will the opposition fare with Orange Revolution firebrand Yulia Tymoshenko languishing in prison? And how much will heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko shake up the political scene?
09:1328.10.2012
Opposition parliamentary candidates Vasyl Hatsko from Kyiv and Tetyana Chornovol from Lviv told Reuters on Friday that they thought today's vote could be manipulated. The head of Ukrainian Committee of Voters, Oleksandr Chernenko, disagrees.
Hatsko:
"We are ready for everything because we know who we deal with in this country - with [President Viktor] Yanukovich and the Party of Regions. That's why we understand that what happened in 2004 and earlier can happen again, when the authorities beat up activists, prevent them from campaigning and do it in order to get a constitutional majority in the parliament."
Chornovol:
"I was splashed with the paint as I was leaving the elevator....I could have said 'so what? Somebody sprayed me with paint'. But I understand that it was done in order to show me how vulnerable I am. When the doors of the elevator opened, and I saw the eyes of this guy, I immediately realised something would happen, that it would be either a knife or a gun. And that was the moment of fear when you clearly understand that you will be attacked. And when I was covered with paint, I was relieved when I understood it was just paint. I think it has been done specially to make me live through this moment and realise how unprotected I am."
Chernenko:
"I think with the party lists, everything will be more or less calm, because the authorities want the results of the vote on party lists to correspond with the results of exit polls in Ukraine so that later they can say, 'look, everything is matching up, so the elections were democratic'. As for the single-constituency vote we could have different unpleasant scenarios. I don't think it will be on a mass scale, but this will take place."
09:2728.10.2012
$25 for a vote? How does that compare to other offers? Email electionsrs@gmail.com -- guaranteed anonymity.
@rferl yesterday i had proposition for my vote 200uah.
