Much of Donetsk and Luhansk unable to vote
It was a tough day for many voters in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Of Donetsk's 3.3 million residents only some 1.4 million had access to the polls.
Our Ukrainian Service reports about one incident in which a resident of separatist-controlled Donetsk and three of his friends, who were unaware voting had been forbidden, had attempted to go their traditional voting station.
"When we arrived there, a man was standing at the entrance and we asked him if we could vote," the prospective voter said. The man walked into the building and soon after "they fired on us with automatic weapons. We barely escaped, making it back to our cars just in time."
Earlier, the commander of the Aidar Batallion had said that members of his unit in the town of Schastya, located near the battlefront, were also unable to vote.
Samopomich (Self-reliance) party carries Kyiv, according to exit polls
One of the biggest surprises of this election is the strong showing for the party of Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy. According to exit polls, much of his support came in Kyiv, were his party beat out the two front-runners (Petro Poroshenko's Bloc and People's Front) to win 27 percent of the vote.
In Slovyansk, exit polls show plurality choosing party of former Party of Regions members
Meanwhile in Slovyansk, long a separatist stronghold until being re-taken by pro-Kyiv forces in August, the Opposition Bloc, made up largely of former members of Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, won 28 percent of the vote, compared to 19 percent for Petro Poroshenko's Bloc.
More on the "other" half of the vote.
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for today. Our news desk will provide updates on results from the Central Election Commission as they come in tonight.
Good morning. Pro-Europe parties have won a sweeping victory in a crucial parliamentary election that Ukrainians hope will improve stability after a year of turmoil and months of warfare against pro-Russian separatists in the east.
More on Russian accusations that the election campaign was "harsh and dirty." From RT.
It is obvious that the Supreme Rada elections in Ukraine can be considered valid despite a rather harsh and dirty campaign, Russia’s deputy foreign minister has said.
“We expect the official confirmation of the elections result, the information we are getting now is quite controversial. But even now it is obvious that the elections have taken place, despite a hard struggle and dirty tricks,” the Interfax news agency quoted Grigory Karasin as saying.
“The forming balance of forces will probably allow the Ukrainian authorities to deal with some rooted problems in the society,” the senior Russian diplomat added.