Opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych defeats PM Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine’s presidential race

Yanukovych beats Tymoshenko in Ukraine race

KIEV, Ukraine — An exit poll says opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has been elected Ukraine’s next president, steering the country away from the pro-Western course set by the 2004 Orange Revolution.

The National Election Poll predicted that the Russia-leaning Yanukovych would finish first in Sunday’s runoff ballot, 48.7 percent to 45.5 percent, with most others votes for the “Against all” category.

Tymoshenko, whose impassioned leadership of the 2004 Orange protests made her an international celebrity, has vowed to challenge a vote she claims was rigged.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians voted for a new president on Sunday, choosing between two candidates who are deeply divided over the country’s drive to build a Western-style society.

Pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych polled 10 percentage points ahead of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the first round of voting on Jan. 17. But most analysts expect the final vote Sunday to be closer and say both sides will resort to legal maneuvering and demonstrations if defeat looms.

Tymoshenko, who became an international figure during Ukraine’s 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution, is likely to continue her country’s faltering efforts to join the European Union and NATO. She also wants to help shape a Ukrainian national identity independent of Russian history, language and culture.

Some pro-Western Ukrainians fear opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych could bring a retreat from Western democratic reforms and the muzzling of media and opposition parties.

The candidates are more united on foreign policy issues, with both likely to restore closer economic and security ties with Moscow, which is trying to revive its influence among former Soviet republics.

Vote fraud is a major question. While the first round of voting last month was praised by international observers, Ukraine’s 2004 presidential vote was tainted by widespread fraud and thrown out by the courts. In the latest race, both sides have traded charges of vote manipulation for weeks now.

Tymoshenko’s campaign announced Sunday it would not recognize votes cast at more than 1,000 polling stations, about 3 percent of the total and enough to throw the outcome into doubt.

Her campaign manager said Tymoshenko supporters were blocked from taking seats on local election boards in those areas, mainly in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, where support for Yanukovych is strong.

Yanukovych’s campaign charged that Tymoshenko supporters delivered ballots to polling stations that had incorrect numerical codes, giving officials an excuse to declare them invalid.

Central Elections Commission chief Vladimir Shapoval said Sunday that some errors had been made due to the scale of work required to print millions of ballot papers.

Opinion polls have been banned in the run-up to the vote but analysts predicted a tight race.

If the protests are prolonged or violent, the unrest could further aggravate Ukraine’s political and economic troubles. The former Soviet republic has suffered for years from a deeply divided and paralyzed government, and has been among the countries hardest hit by the global financial crisis.

Many independent voters say they are weary after five years of tumultuous rule by the blond-braided Tymoshenko and her Orange ally, President Viktor Yushchenko, and by the unfulfilled promises of the street protests of 2004.

If Yanukovych wins, it will be an impressive reversal of fortune. His Kremlin-backed election as president in 2004 triggered the mass demonstrations and his win was thrown out due to massive fraud.

As the vote progressed Sunday, the candidates traded sensational charges.

Tymoshenko’s campaign manager charged her rival’s supporters with killing a member of her staff, but police and an independent election monitoring group said the man died of heart failure.

Tymoshenko cast her ballot Sunday in the industrial center of Dnipropetrovsk in eastern Ukraine.

“I voted for a new Ukraine — a beautiful and European Ukraine — and for people to live happily. I will serve Ukraine with all my heart,” she said, standing next to her husband.

In Kiev, Yanukovych said the election would mark the “first step in overcoming the crisis.”

“The people of Ukraine deserve a better life, so I voted for positive changes, stability and a strong Ukraine,” he said.

Yushchenko, who garnered too few votes to be in Sunday’s runoff, voted in Kiev, saying election day was a chance to show there could be a peaceful transfer of power. Still, he couldn’t resist a bitter parting shot at his two rivals.

“I think that the people of Ukraine will be ashamed of the choice they have to make,” he added.

The faith of some Orange voters wasn’t shaken despite years of wrangling by Orange leaders that helped derail promised reforms.

“I am voting against the return of our Soviet past,” 40-year-old businessman Vladimir Khivrenko said at a polling station near the Maidan, the central square in Kiev, the capital. “Tymoshenko has promised us a new path to Europe, and I believe her.”

But Yanukovych loyalists were not impressed with the Orange movement’s tenure.

“I want stability and order,” said 60-year-old retiree Tatyana Volodaschuk. “Yanukovych offers us the guarantee of a normal life.”

Ukraine’s currency crashed in 2008, wiping out almost half of people’s savings, and the International Monetary Fund had to step in with a $16.4 billion bailout. GDP plunged more than 14 percent in 2009, and according to the World Bank, Ukraine will have only anemic growth this year.

Many Ukrainians work in the 27-nation in order to send money to their impoverished families at home.

Associated Press writers Peter Leonard and Douglas Birch contributed to this report.