Ukrainians are going to the polls to vote in a new president after months of unrest following the ousting of former President Viktor Yanukovych.<\/p>\n
There are 18 candidates on the ballot, which is widely seen as a crucial moment to unite the country.<\/p>\n
But pro-Russian separatists have disrupted voting in the east, stopping many polling stations from opening and smashing up ballot boxes.<\/p>\n
Some 20 people have been killed in fighting in recent days.<\/p>\n
Voting in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk has been seriously disrupted.<\/p>\n
There were no polling stations open in Donetsk city, and across the region only seven out of 12 district electoral commissions were operating.<\/p>\n
The presidential elections were called after the last elected President, Viktor Yanukovych, was deposed in February amid mass protests against his pro-Russian policies.<\/p>\n
Confectionary tycoon Petro Poroshenko, known as the “chocolate king”, is the favourite to win.<\/p>\n
By 11:00 local time (08:00 GMT), national turnout stood at 17.5%.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ukrainians are going to the polls to vote in a new president after months of unrest following the ousting of former President Viktor Yanukovych. There are 18 candidates on the ballot, which is widely seen as a crucial moment to unite the country. But pro-Russian separatists have disrupted voting in the east, stopping many polling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":20679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\n