Here is an update on the 10 of the most important battles that took place in Ukraine’s 199 single-member district races. The Kyiv Post identified 10 of these contests as ones to watch. Vote totals are updated as of 5 p.m. on July 22.
- District 49 in Druzhkivka, in Donetsk Oblast: A close call between two pro-Russian candidates here with 44% of votes tallied so far. Borys Kolesnikov from the Opposition Bloc has 34% and Valery Hnatenko from Opposition Platform has 38%. Serhiy Sivokho from Servant of the People trails with 20% of votes. From party-list voting, the Opposition Platform leads with 52% of votes compared to Servant of the People, with 22%.
- District 51 in Zaitseve, in Donetsk Oblast: In another village district close to the frontline, independent candidate, Alexander Kovalev has won. Andriy Alyosha of Opposition Platform and Nadia Savchenko, candidates many had their eyes on, trailed far behind Kovalev in 6th and 8th place respectively and only a handful of votes. In party-list voting, Platform took 45% of votes, compared to second place Servant with 17%.
- District 62 in Zhytomyr, in central Ukraine: Landslide here for Ihor Herasymenko, Servant of the People, taking nearly half of all votes cast with the other 50% split among some eight opponents. His main opponent, however, the independent incumbent Boryslav Rozenblat, only came 4th, despite his alleged bribery of voters. Servant took half of all votes from party-list voting too, leaving opponents in the dust.
- District 64 in Korosten, in Zhytomyr Oblast: With 63% of votes tallied so far, it’s still quite close between independent candidates Serhiy Pashynsky (18%) and Volodymyr Areshonkov (26%) but newcomer and teacher Vyacheslav Sigachev (Servant of the People) has surprised observers by edging ahead of his opponents with 29% tallied so far. From party list votes, Servant took 47%.
- District 94 in Obukhiv, on the outskirts of Kyiv: Only 24% of votes tallied so far but a solid, early lead for Oleksandr Dubinsky (Servant of the People). The popular blogger and TV host on billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky-owned 1+1 TV channel has more votes than his closest opponent, Igor Kononenko (14%), a close business partner to ex-President Petro Poroshenko. Servant has a convincing majority with 46% from party-list votes.
- District 105 in Schastya, in Luhansk Oblast: This Ukrainian suburb of Russian-controlled Luhansk currently has no elected representative in the Rada. Its next one, however, will definitely be a Kremlin-friendly candidate. With a third of votes tallied, it is a close call between Serhiy Medvedchuk, standing with his brother Viktor Medvedchuk’s Opposition Platform (he has 34%) and Viktoria Hryb, standing with the Opposition Bloc (39%). Platform has 57% of party list votes.
- District 131 in Voznesenk, in Mykolaiv Oblast: A solid victory in this district for Servant of the People, who took 57% of the total votes from the party list voting, leaving the pro-Russian Opposition Platform in the dust with 14%. Artem Chornomorov, meanwhile, took 42.7% of single-mandate votes, convincingly winning in the single-mandate district.
- District 133 in Odesa, Black Sea port city: A tougher fight is taking place between Servant and Platform in nearby district 133, Odesa, where about 70% of votes have been tallied. Artem Dmytruk (Servant) has 32.5%, compared to Viktor Baransky (Platform) with 27.2%. So-called “clones” here, candidates listed with similar or the same names, do appear to have been somewhat effective in splitting the votes for leading candidates. Servant has taken 41% of party-list votes, compared to Platform’s 25.2%.
- District 169 in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine: Another convincing win for Servant of the People, and disappointment for independent candidate Oleksandr Hranovsky, well-known for being a shady fixer for ex-President Petro Poroshenko. Oleksandr Kunitsky (Servant) has taken almost 49% of single-mandate votes while Servant also won in the multi-mandate vote, tallying 15% more votes than Opposition Platform.
- District 186 in Kherson, south Ukrainian city: A slightly closer race down in the southern Ukraine, where only 66% of votes are tallied but Oleksiy Kovalyov (Servant) has a strong 17 percentage point lead (with 36% of votes) in comparison to Yevhen Ryskchuk, a former Kherson Oblast deputy governor (with 19%). Ryskchuk has become widely known for being blamed for the murder of Kateryna Gandziuk, a Kherson city official and anti-corruption advocate. Meanwhile, Servant appears to have convincingly won the party-list voting here, taking 51% of all the votes counted (48%) so far.
