Ukraine

KIEV (AFP) – Voters in Ukraine on Monday forced two old rivals who both favour close ties with Russia into a tense presidential election run-off after rejecting the pro-Western leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution.

Preliminary results showed dour pro-Moscow candidate Viktor Yanukovich had won Sunday's first round of voting, in a stunning turnaround for the politician blamed for organising poll rigging in 2004 that sparked the Orange uprising.

But having failed to muster a majority, Yanukovich will face the second place candidate, the glamorous Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, in a run-off on February 7.

In a stinging rebuke for the pro-West revolt just over five years later, its leader and incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko was eliminated in the first round with a miserable single digit result. Profile: Ukraine's 'Orange hero' who lost his shine

With ballots from about 91 percent of polling stations counted, Yanukovich had garnered 35 percent of the vote and Tymoshenko 25 percent, the central election commission said.

Third place went to businessman Sergiy Tigipko, who polled 13 percent. His electorate will now prove crucial in determining the fate of the second round.