Early presidential elections are being held in Ukraine today. 21 people are taking part in the campaign, including the frontrunners - chocolate tycoon Petro Poroshenko and former prime minister and leader of the Fatherland party Yulia Tymoshenko.
The presidential elections were ordered by the Ukrainian Parliament after former president Viktor Yanukovych fled Kyiv amid protests in the city, which resulted in the deaths of at least 100 people.
The elections are being held in only a few districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are partly controlled by pro-Russian rebels. Residents of Crimea, which has been annexed by the Russian Federation, will have to go to the mainland part of Ukraine in order to take part in the vote.
Some 6 thousand Crimeans have already voiced their willingness to vote.
