Ukrainian authorities on Friday said a record 44 candidates have registered to contest next month's highly-unpredictable presidential election.
The March 31 vote comes five years after the former Soviet country ousted a Kremlin-backed regime and Moscow responded by annexing Crimea and backing insurgents in the east.
"A total of 44 candidates for the post of president of Ukraine have been registered," the Central Election Commission said.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is seeking re-election but his victory is far from assured, with nearly 20 percent of people saying they would vote for comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky.
Opinion polls put former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko in second place with 18 percent, with Poroshenko seen coming third with 15 percent, according to a Rating Group study late last month.
Many of those registered to run are former and current lawmakers who are seeking to boost their standing ahead of parliamentary polls later this year.
Tymoshenko, who heads the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, has accused Poroshenko of not fighting fairly, pointing out the electoral authorities had accepted another candidate with the identical surname and initial as her.
The party urged Poroshenko to bar independent lawmaker Yuriy Tymoshenko from the race, claiming he is a spoiler candidate.
"What a low move!" Tymoshenko said late Thursday, accusing Poroshenko of helping him register in order to leech away her support.
Ukraine has been fighting a Russian-backed insurgency in its eastern regions after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, in a conflict that has claimed some 13,000 lives.
Russia rejects accusations that it has been arming the insurgents and sending its own troops across the border despite evidence to the contrary.
On Thursday, lawmakers voted to ban Russians from monitoring the forthcoming election and amended the constitution, enshrining in law Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU and NATO.
Ukrainian authorities on Friday said a record 44 candidates have registered to contest next month’s highly-unpredictable presidential election.
The March 31 vote comes five years after the former Soviet country ousted a Kremlin-backed regime and Moscow responded by annexing Crimea and backing insurgents in the east.
“A total of 44 candidates for the post of president of Ukraine have been registered,” the Central Election Commission said.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is seeking re-election but his victory is far from assured, with nearly 20 percent of people saying they would vote for comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky.
Opinion polls put former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko in second place with 18 percent, with Poroshenko seen coming third with 15 percent, according to a Rating Group study late last month.
Many of those registered to run are former and current lawmakers who are seeking to boost their standing ahead of parliamentary polls later this year.
Tymoshenko, who heads the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, has accused Poroshenko of not fighting fairly, pointing out the electoral authorities had accepted another candidate with the identical surname and initial as her.
The party urged Poroshenko to bar independent lawmaker Yuriy Tymoshenko from the race, claiming he is a spoiler candidate.
“What a low move!” Tymoshenko said late Thursday, accusing Poroshenko of helping him register in order to leech away her support.
Ukraine has been fighting a Russian-backed insurgency in its eastern regions after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, in a conflict that has claimed some 13,000 lives.
Russia rejects accusations that it has been arming the insurgents and sending its own troops across the border despite evidence to the contrary.
On Thursday, lawmakers voted to ban Russians from monitoring the forthcoming election and amended the constitution, enshrining in law Ukraine’s aspirations to join the EU and NATO.
