VICE News

Ukraine Elects A New President: Russian Roulette (Dispatch 43) (2x46)

: 28, 2014

Ukraine went to the polls this weekend to choose a new president, but pro-Russia separatists in the east did everything they could to stop voters from taking part. The stakes are especially high because while the rebels deem the interim government illegal, the Ukrainian authorities are desperate to see a strong people’s mandate bestowed on a new leader who is able to quell the rebellion. VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky visited a polling station in Donetsk that was actually running, as people casted their votes and the fate of the country was decided. Pro-European businessman and “chocolate king” Petro Poroshenko was later declared the election winner. Poroshenko said that his first goal in office would be to resolve the crisis in eastern Ukraine, which so far is not showing any sign of ending.