Ukrainians go to the polls to vote in a presidential election, which authorities hope can help resolve a confrontation with Russia that has split the country. Reports said early signs pointed to a high turnout in the capital, Kyiv, and western Ukraine. However, the regional administration in Donetsk said that only 426 out of 2,430 polling stations in the eastern region were open and none in the city of Donetsk itself. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has urged Ukrainians to vote to "defend Ukraine."
Ukrainians Go To The Polls
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A young Ukrainian girl looks at a military serviceman taking part in the presidential election at a polling station in the city of Lviv.
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A woman passes lists of candidates at polling station in the village of Kosmach, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region of western Ukraine.
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A man casts his vote at a polling station in Kyiv.
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A Ukrainian soldier studies his ballot paper before voting in Kyiv.
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Priests queue to collect their ballot papers before voting at a polling station in the capital, Kyiv.
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Portraits of those who died during the violent protests at the Maidan Square, displayed at an improvised memorial close to a polling station in central Kyiv.
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An elderly woman casts her vote at a mobile polling station, outside her home outside Kyiv.
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Members of the election commission carry a mobile ballot box in the village of Kornyn in the Zhytomyr region.
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Pro-Russian militants shelter inside a psychiatric hospital during fighting with the Ukrainian Army, in Semyonovka village, outside Slovyansk.
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A voter fills in a ballot inside a booth at a polling station in the town of Dobropillia, Donetsk region.
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Pro-Russian separatists of the self-proclaimed 'Vostok Battalion' cheer their comrades on a truck at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city of Donetsk. No polling stations have opened in the city of Donetsk.
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Presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko looks out of the polling booth before casting her ballot at a polling station in the east Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, some 400 kilometers south-east of Kyiv.
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Ukrainian businessman and presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko (center) speaks to journalists after casting his vote in Kyiv.
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Heavyweight boxing champion and UDAR (Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform) party leader Vitali Klitschko leaves a booth before casting his vote at a polling station in Kyiv.
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Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk (right) collects his ballot papers during voting in Kyiv.