Ukraine Gets Ready to Vote for President, for a Third Time

Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko called on Ukraine’s government Friday to prevent any violence in this weekend’s repeat presidential election as the two sides rallied supporters on the final day of campaigning.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, probably alluding to Ukraine, said his country had not meddled in the affairs of ex-Soviet republics, but accused others of doing so.

“We haven’t engaged in any behind-the-scenes policymaking on the post-Soviet space, and that, to some extent, limits instruments we can use to defend our interests ... unlike our partners who have used them actively,” Putin told the State Council, made up of Cabinet members and provincial governors.

Putin’s support for Yushchenko’s rival, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, strained the Russian leader’s relations with the West.

Putin has since said he is ready to work with Yushchenko if he wins.

In Kiev, rumors are swirling that Cossacks and miners from eastern Ukraine are prepared to disrupt Sunday’s vote or head to Kiev if Yushchenko wins.

Campaign officials for Yanukovich, who draws most of his support from eastern Ukraine, have repeatedly denied those reports.

Yanukovich claimed victory in the Nov. 21 runoff, but suspicions of vote-rigging brought tens of thousands of Yushchenko supporters into the streets of Kiev for days of protests. The Supreme Court annulled the results, citing fraud, and ordered a revote.

At a news conference in Kiev, Yushchenko acknowledged that he was worried about rumors that the runoff might be disrupted.

“I think it will be a colossal mistake on the part of the current regime if even one drop of blood is shed in the coming days,” Yushchenko said.

Ukrainian law requires all campaigning to end at midnight Friday, so each side made a final rush to spread its message.

About 10,000 Yanukovich supporters rallied in Kiev’s Victory Square, chanting “Ya-nu-ko-vich! Ya-nu-ko-vich!”

“Together, we will be victorious,” Yanukovich told the cheering crowd.

A pro-Yushchenko convoy headed to Kiev after traveling through eastern Ukraine. About 100 activists from the pro- Yushchenko youth group Pora waved yellow flags with a ticking clock as they waited on European Square for the convoy’s arrival.

State Security Service chief Ihor Smeshko said law enforcement agencies would maintain law and order Sunday.

The bitter election campaign has underscored stark differences between Ukraine’s predominantly pro-Yanukovich, Russian-speaking east and the western and central regions, from which Yushchenko draws support. Some eastern regions have said they might pursue autonomy if Western-backed Yushchenko wins.