West-leaning opposition leader Mr Viktor Yushchenko took an unassailable lead today in Ukraine's re-run presidential election, pledging an end to corruption and drift for the former Soviet republic.
International observers gave their blessing to Sunday's re-run of the presidential election, saying it had be much fairer than the November 21 poll which Mr Yushchenko's rival won but which the Supreme Court quashed on the grounds of mass fraud.
Mr Yushchenko wants to align Ukraine, its economic potential squandered by years of mismanagement, with the West, fanning concerns in Russia that it will lose influence over a region where it has held sway for 300 years.
Western neighbour Poland, now a member of the European Union which Ukraine aspires to join in the long term, became the first country to congratulate him.
Outgoing Ukrainian President Mr Leonid Kuchma's 10-year-rule was marked by murky privatisations, widespread poverty and political scandals such as the unexplained beheading of an investigative reporter and alleged arms sales to pariah states.
"For 14 years we have been independent. Now we have become free," Mr Yushchenko told supporters gathered overnight in Kiev's Independence Square, site of more than two weeks of mass protests against November's rigged election. "The people proved their power. They rebelled against probably the most cynical regime in eastern Europe."
With more than 99.45 per cent of votes counted, election officials said Mr Yushchenko won 52.15 per cent to just under 44 percent for Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, who won the discredited poll.