RIA Novosti: Poroshenko’s Lead in Ukraine Presidential Race Grows With 99% of Votes Counted

KIEV, May 28 (RIA Novosti) – Tycoon Petro Poroshenko has scored 54.7 percent of the vote in Ukraine’s presidential election with 99.05 percent of ballots counted, the country’s Central Election Commission announced Wednesday.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko came second with 12.82 percent.

Oleh Lyashko, the leader of the Radical Party of Ukraine, came third with 8.33 percent of the vote, the CEC said.

People’s deputy Anatoly Grytsenko took 5.48 percent, self-nominated Serhyi Tihipko scored 5.23 percent of the votes and Mykhailo Dobkin of the Party of Regions got 3.03 percent, the Central Election Commission said.

The May 25 early presidential vote came amid a large-scale military operation launched by the new Kiev authorities to crack down on protesters refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the government.

A total of 23 candidates were registered to take part in the vote, but several others later announced their decision to withdraw, bringing the final tally to 21.