KIEV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainians cast their first presidential ballots since the 2004 Orange Revolution Sunday, an election that could steer the country from its pro-Western course and strengthen ties with Russia.

Voters trudged toward polling stations in light snow in the capital Kiev. At one polling station in the eastern city of Donetsk, officials encouraged voters with vodka, sausage and salo, or lard, a traditional Ukrainian hors d'oeuvre.
Opinion polls show former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych — a pro-Russian figure who was the target of the 2004 Orange-led mass protests — is leading, with the support of about a third of voters.
Polls suggest Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, an Orange leader who in the past year has reached out to the Kremlin, will finish second Sunday.
""I am sure that today across Ukraine people are not just choosing a candidate for the next president, but the future government for the next few decades, and I believe that today Ukraine is starting a new stage in its existence,"" Tymoshenko told reporters after voting Sunday.
Supporters of Viktor Yanukovych have been out in force in Kiev.
-