President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine trounced communist challenger Mr Petro Simonenko in yesterday's presidential election.
With most of the votes counted, Mr Kuchma had 56 per cent and Mr Simonenko 37 per cent, a central election commission official said.
Turnout in the second round was 73.8 per cent of the electorate, up from about 70 per cent in the first round on October 31st, the official added.
Mr Kuchma led the poll in the capital Kiev, with around 64.87 per cent, and in western regions, where he received up to 93 per cent of the votes. Crimea and the eastern industrial region voted mostly for Mr Simonenko, who had wanted a rapprochement with Russia.