President Viktor Yanukovich's Party of Regions took 28.1% of the vote in a field of five parties expected to hold seats in parliament, according to Ukraine's National Exit Poll. The United Opposition coalition, organized by jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her allies, followed with 24.7%.
 
Two parties that coordinated with United Opposition had strong showings as well. Running third, with 15.1%, was the Udar ("Punch") party of heavyweight boxing champ Vitali Klitchko. And the Svoboda ("Freedom") party was fourth with 12.3%, the poll found.
 
If the count follows the exit polls, that would leave Yanukovich dealing with a parliament likely to be dominated by opposition parties.
"The results of exit polls show clearly that people of Ukraine support the opposition, not the government," United Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk told reporters after polls closed Sunday night. "And that's the clear sign that we still have democracy in this country."
 
There was no immediate response to the results from the Party of Regions.
Ukraine's Communists were running in fifth place with 11.8%, according to the exit poll.
 
The Central Electoral Commussion released the first actual results late Sunday from overseas votes and small precincts within Ukraine. Those numbers -- about one-tenth of one percent of the total -- showed Yanukovich's party with 50.7%, the United Opposition with 14.9%, the Communists with 14.6%, Udar with 7% and Svoboda with 5.8%.
 



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