Pro-Russia candidate tops vote in Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine — The archenemy of Ukraine's pro-democracy movement won a first-place finish in the initial round of presidential voting Sunday, setting him up for a showdown with the heroine of the 2004 Orange Revolution, exit polls showed.

The surveys predicted that pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych will finish first in the hard-fought campaign. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will finish second, clearing the path for a runoff between the pair next month, polls showed.

The vote appeared to be a repudiation of the Orange revolt by voters weary of endemic corruption and economic mismanagement, though the country's leading poll predicted a closer race than expected.

The two leading candidates stood on opposite sides of the barricades during the peaceful mass demonstrations that kicked out a reputedly corrupt government in 2004. Yanukovych, then-prime minister, was a presidential candidate with the backing of the Kremlin. Tymoshenko and the Orange forces swarming the streets denounced Russian interference in his initial victory, which was eventually overturned amid allegations of fraud.

Today, both say they will abandon efforts to join NATO and pledge to repair ties to Russia, the region's dominant power.

The National Exit Poll, the country's leading poll, late Sunday had Yanukovych leading Tymoshenko by less than 5 percentage points, a far weaker advantage than he has been counting on.

The poll also showed disillusioned voters handing a humiliating defeat to current President Viktor Yushchenko, who led the Orange Revolution alongside Tymoshenko in 2004, but mustered only 6 percent of the vote in the National Exit Poll, putting him in fifth place.

Yushchenko was hospitalized with a massive dose of the chemical dioxin during the 2004 race that preceded the Orange Revolution, and his poison-scarred face became a symbol of defiance to tyranny for millions around the world. But during his five-year term he came to be seen as an ineffective leader when he failed to curb corruption and modernize Ukraine's economy.

Ukraine's currency crashed in 2008, the economy sputtered and the International Monetary Fund had to step in with a $16.4 billion bailout. Ukraine's gross domestic product plunged by 15 percent in 2009, according to the World Bank, which estimates that the country will see anemic growth this year.

His promises of joining NATO and the EU have also fallen flat, and Yushchenko appeared dejected in front of reporters after the exit polls were released.