yanukovich

Mr Yanukovich, by contrast, seems to have waded across the Rubicon without noticing.

And Mr Yanukovich would be stuck with precisely the label that he has worked so hard to shed: that of a neo-Soviet autocrat.

But some of Mr Yanukovich's financial backers did not like this idea.

Yet Mr Yanukovich knows that a turn to Russia could turn him into Moscow's vassal, even if it would earn him a few extra votes.

Pre-election hopes that Mr Yanukovich would face strong opposition from her are yet to be fulfilled.

The orange revolution was not aimed personally at Mr Yanukovich but against the idea of transferring power like this.

Despite a makeover by American political consultants, Mr Yanukovich has not shaken off his image of a thuggish, inarticulate man.

First, Mr Yanukovich hired foreign investigators and prosecution lawyers to dig up dirt on her. But they found little.

Ukrainians have to pick one of two familiar faces: Mr Yanukovich or Ms Tymoshenko.

To many pundits, Ukraine has been lost and Mr Yanukovich has turned out to be as bad as they had always feared.

Setting out the principles of a free trade agreement will not ease the pressure on Mr Yanukovich.

His defeated rival, Viktor Yanukovich, was disgraced because, as prime minister, he had blatantly tried to rig the presidential election.

If Mr Yanukovich fails to build a new coalition, he will have to call a new parliamentary election.

Donetsk, Mr Yanukovich's hometown, was the industrial heartland of the Soviet Union.

The choice of Mr Yanukovich as president would be neither a disaster nor a breakthrough for Ukraine's oligarchic political system.

The main question is whether Mr Yanukovich can find the will to carry through reforms that could make him unpopular.

Next week her nominal coalition could formally break up, but even that would not resolve Mr Yanukovich'sproblem.

Not long ago she tried to forge a deal with Mr Yanukovich to amend the constitution so that parliament would elect the president.

Yet some of Mr Yanukovich's team do not inspire confidence.

Ms Tymoshenko's party did well, taking votes from the Party of the Regions led by Viktor Yanukovich, the outgoing prime minister.

Now Mr Yanukovich will be able to reduce his budget deficit without risking his support.

Mr Yanukovich did not expect this.

There is no danger of micromanagement with Mr Yanukovich, who represents the interest of big industrial groups in the Russian-speaking east.

Ms Tymoshenko and Mr Yushchenko have not spoken for six weeks; both are said to have talked to Mr Yanukovich instead.

It is true that the front-runner in the run-off on February 7th is the Russian-backed villain of 2004-05, Viktor Yanukovich (pictured left).

When the orange revolution began, Mr Yanukovich and his supporters brought in nasty-looking toughs from Donetsk to balance the orange crowd.

By contrast Mr Yanukovich, looking pleased with himself yet somewhat surprised by the outcome, has declared victory.

Ms Tymoshenko also claims that Mr Yanukovich has worked hard, and with some success, to split her own party.

On taking office Mr Yanukovich's immediate instinct was to consolidate power.

Behind Mr Yanukovich lurk powerful billionaire oligarchs who control most of the former Soviet mines and giant steelworks in the east.

Her ousted rival, the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich, made a bitter forecast of "trials. . . crisis and scandal" .

Even so, to get the money, Mr Yanukovich has had to raise domestic gas prices.

Yet by settling scores, Mr Yanukovich may also have damaged his own cause.

Ukraine's opposition accused Mr Yanukovich of betraying the national interest and surrendering sovereignty.

Stirring up his eastern heartland could annoy Mr Yanukovich's business backers, who have been cutting jobs and wages.

In fact, most observers say, it was her contempt for Mr Yanukovich and his men that put her behind bars.

As one of Mr Yanukovich's allies says, "foes get the rule of law, friends everything else. "

But where Viktor Yushchenko, his predecessor, was merely a source of irritation and impatience, Mr Yanukovich causes genuine alarm.

This says as much about Mr Yanukovich's piety as about Moscow's tactic of using the church to extend its influence.

To make an alliance more palatable, Mr Yanukovich may have to accept a compromise prime minister.

The orange forces, led by Ms Tymoshenko and Mr Yushchenko, defeated the vote-rigging Mr Yanukovich, who was backed by Moscow.

Mr Yushchenko draws his vote largely from the west of Ukraine, and Mr Yanukovich from the Russian-speaking east and south.

In the 2004 election Mr Yanukovich had the backing of Russia's then president, Vladimir Putin, who rushed to congratulate him.

Even Mr Yanukovich, once backed by Moscow, now subscribes to the notion of European integration.

He is also said to be favoured by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest tycoon and Mr Yanukovich's sponsor.

Mr Yanukovich no longer flies to Moscow for advice: these days he is coached by American spin-doctors.

"We have the right to form the new government, " Mr Yanukovich bleated.

In fact, the intensity of Russia's overtures appears to have spooked not only Western observers but Mr Yanukovich too.

Indeed, Mr Yanukovich's credibility and commitment to democracy are in the dock alongside her.

After more months of infighting on the orange side, Mr Yanukovich bounced back as prime minister.

On October 18th, Mr Yanukovich will host Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's outgoing president and future prime minister, in Donetsk.

Having observed the intense engagement between Mr Yanukovich and the EU, Russia may change tack.

But his rival (and prime minister), Viktor Yanukovich, refused to accept the dissolution.

And it has become a lot more independent from the bear next door, even in Mr Yanukovich's base in the Russian-speaking east.

Mr Yanukovich has been equally keen to demarcate the boundaries of Ukraine's business interests.

Unlike Mr Yanukovich, she has not tried to change her image with the help of American spin-doctors.

Under Viktor Yanukovich, a pivotal country of 48m people is sliding towards Russia's political culture.

The tongue-tied and hard-fisted Mr Yanukovich did little to win this election.

"Everyone is looking towards Europe, " says Yury Levenets, an adviser to Mr Yanukovich's team.

In recent weeks Mr Yanukovich has discovered how wrong he was.

Mr Yanukovich won the most votes in the first round yet the wily and more appealing Ms Tymoshenko could yet snatch victory.

Yanukovich is Ukraine's most popular politician according to polls with more than 20 percent, followed by Tymoshenko at 15 percent.

Opinion polls suggest that Ms Tymoshenko, who is no angel and mistrusted by many Ukrainians, posed no real threat to Mr Yanukovich.