UKRAINE’S presidential election got under way today to a very mixed reaction from Ukrainian citizens.

Voting was steady in the west of the country but there was little in the east.

The regional administration in Donetsk said that only 426 out of 2,430 polling stations in the region were open and none in the city itself.

There was no voting in the city of Lugansk, the centre of the neighbouring province, but some polling stations appeared to be open elsewhere in the region.

The election is essentially a beauty contest between oligarchs, with billionaire confectioner Petro Poroshenko far ahead of the other 20 candidates His nearest challenger appears to be divisive oligarch and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Ms Tymoshenko said after casting her ballot that Ukraine must join the European Union and Nato.

“Today I voted for a European Ukraine” she said. 

“I am convinced that Ukraine can be strong, happy and prosperous if it becomes a member of the European Union.”

But in the east, anti-coup groups have declared the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk independent and have pledged not to allow the vote in an election in “a neighbouring country.” 

Kiev government election officials said they have received only 26 per cent of election registrations for the Donetsk region and 16 per cent for the Lugansk region. 

Meanwhile, in the city of Sloviansk, artillery shelling by government forces badly damaged a psychiatric hospital late on Saturday, shattering its roof and damaging its walls.