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Ukrainian President Poroshenko Votes in Snap Parliamentary Elections

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After visit to several cities in turbulent region of Donbas, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has cast his ballot in the ongoing snap parliamentary elections in Kiev.

MOSCOW, October 26 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has cast his ballot in the ongoing snap parliamentary elections in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, a RIA Novosti correspondent said Sunday.

"I voted for the future, for the European direction for the country's development, for a new government. I do hope that… since it is a new country now... with a new president, I believe that we will get a new government and a new pro-European coalition," Poroshenko told journalists.

Earlier in the day, the president made a surprise visit to several cities in the country's turbulent region of Donbas, which comprises parts of eastern Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. In particular, he traveled to the cities that skipped the May presidential election.

"I hope that the Ukrainian people are going to make a very important choice… I had an opportunity to visit the cities that could not vote during the presidential elections. They can vote for the European future," Poroshenko said.

A Ukrainian news TV channel reported earlier the Ukrainian leader was going to vote in Donbas, rather than in Kiev. It also cited Poroshenko's wife, Marina, as saying her husband was in Donbas to "personally monitor how the elections in [Luhansk and Donetsk] regions are held".

Early parliamentary elections are underway in Ukraine. Ukrainians are going to the polls to vote in 424 members of parliament — 225 of them from party lists and 199 in single-candidate constituencies. The electoral threshold is 5 percent.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission said that the vote could not be conducted in almost half the districts in the southeastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, administered by independence forces.

Authorities in Ukraine's breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk said they would not go to polls on October 26 or on December 7, which is a separate election day stipulated by President Poroshenko's law that also granted them a special status. Instead, the regions are set to vote on November 2.

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