Ukraine's Orange leader Yushchenko loses election

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko, the one-time hero of the Orange Revolution, has been eliminated from the country's presidential election.

A run-off will be held on 7 February after no candidate won 50% of the vote.

With three quarters of votes counted, the president had won only about 5%. Former PM Viktor Yanukovych led current PM Yulia Tymoshenko by some 36% to 25%.

On opposing sides of the Orange Revolution in 2004 and 2005, both now favour closer ties with Russia.

It was Mr Yanukovych's victory in the 2004 election that was annulled by the Orange Revolution and brought Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko to power.

The poll highlighted Mr Yushchenko's recent power struggle with Mrs Tymoshenko - his former ally during the mass street protests in 2004 that swept his pro-Western coalition to power.

A total of 18 candidates took part in the election.

There was much disillusionment among voters over the failure to tackle corruption and links with the EU, says the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Kiev.

Turnout was reported to be as low as 50%. In the eastern city of Donetsk, one polling station encouraged voters with vodka and sausage.

Mr Yushchenko cast his ballot at a polling station in central Kiev with his wife, Kateryna, and their five children.

"Ukraine once again will demonstrate that it is a European democratic country, that it is a free nation, free people and free election," he said.

The leading candidates have accused each other of trying to rig the election, and there have been warnings of unrest after the vote.

In an effort to boost confidence in the election, foreign observers spread out across Ukraine to monitor voting.

Jens-Hagen Eschenbacher, of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said about 600 OSCE election monitors had been in place, as well as thousands of other foreign observers.

The Orange Revolution led Ukrainians to expect sweeping changes - integration with Europe and an end to corruption, our correspondent says.

But the reality has not lived up to expectations and there is widespread disillusionment with politicians across the spectrum, he adds.

BBC News