Why Russia, the U.S. and Europe care so much about Ukraine’s disputed presidential election.
Recently Ukraine lived the revolution which rippled across even all Europe. The presenter of state-controlled UT-1`s main morning news program was updating viewers on the Central Election Commission’s decision to declare Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner of the country’s Nov. 21 presidential vote. Independent Ukraine’s fourth presidential election since the collapse of the Soviet Union was supposed to reach a final conclusion in the Nov. 21 runoff. The Election Commission showed Moscow’s favored candidate, Yanukovych, ahead by three percentage points. But immediately, there were widespread accusations – the main were voter intimidation, physical assaults and the torching of ballot boxes. In its turn, the state-controlled media, which had backed Yanukovych through the five-month campaign, were reporting no major violations.…