Protestors take to the streets

More than 100,000 Ukrainians poured into the streets of their capital on Monday to protest over the result of a presidential election they say was stolen by backers of pro-Moscow Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

The state8217;s nationalist western regions also rebelled, saying they would recognise only pro-western liberal rival Viktor Yushchenko as the rightful president. The Ukrainian Central Election Commission said with almost all the ballots counted , Yanukovich received 49.42 per cent of the vote and Yushchenko 46.7 per cent. After the first round in October, it had taken ten days to release the final results.

Rejecting the results, Yushchenko told tens of thousands of his supporters at a mass protest rally at Independence Square in Kiev, that they were falsified and urged the people to mount a civil disobedience campaign. Russian television stations showed video footage of Yushchenko8217;s supporters putting up tents on Kiev8217;s central street, Kreshchatik.

Western monitors said on Monday that the election did not meet any criteria for democratic polls.