Ukraine Voting İn Early General Elections

Ukrainians are voting in early general elections on Sunday as tension remains high amid continuing unrest in the east of the country.



More than 32 million Ukrainians are choosing from 6,627 candidates and 29 parties for the 450 seated Parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada in Ukraine. 



Polling stations opened at 08: 00 and will remain open until 20: 00, local time.



Crimea and the eastern region of Donbas, which are still not under the full control of Ukrainian authorities, are not voting in the elections.



President Petro Poroshenko, whose coalition is seen as a favorite to win these elections, decided on August 25 to call for early polls.



The president's office said that on Sunday, Poroshenko went to the city of Kramatorsk in the Donbas region, where the Ukrainian army recently took full control.



In his surprise visit, Poroshenko said that polling stations in Kramatorsk, Dzerzhynsk and Sloviansk had been opened and the authorities would do everything to ensure the security of voters -- while polling stations in other parts of Donbas region have remained closed.



While the president was in eastern Ukraine, his wife Maryna Poroshenko voted in Kiev at the polling station located in the Officers' House.



The last elections held in Ukraine were in October 2012, before dramatic events gripped the country.



Last year's Maidan protests led to Moscow-backed former President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country after he refused to sign a deal to have closer ties with the EU.



Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have been continuing their attacks in the eastern part of the country, despite a cease-fire between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels signed on September 5. 



Semi-autonomous Crimea unilaterally decided to join the Russian Federation in March, while thousands of people have been killed in eastern Ukraine in clashes between the Ukrainian Army and pro-Russian separatists. 



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara