Former premier and opposition party leader Viktor Yanukovych is leading the presidential race in Ukraine, a Russian pollster said on Wednesday.

The Russian Public Opinion Center, or VTsIOM, also said its survey showed that voter turnout in the election due on Sunday is expected to hit 89%.

The pollster said 30.5% of those surveyed will back Yanukovych who is followed by current Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko with 13.9%. Ex-economics minister Serhiy Tyhypko outpaced the premier with 14.4%, according to the survey.

Former parliamentary speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk was supported by 5.6% of respondents, VTsIOM said. Incumbent leader Viktor Yushchenko comes fifth with 3%, the pollster said.

A runoff is widely expected as no candidate is likely to secure an outright majority in the first round. VTsIOM said 40.7% of respondents said they would vote for Yanukovych in the second round of the vote, 36.6% would back Tyhyprko, and 24.1% would support Tymoshenko.

Yatsenyuk and Yushchenko enjoyed the support of 15.3% and 5% of respondents respectively as candidates in the runoff.

The survey was conducted in Ukraine on January 3-10 and covered 1,200 respondents in 40 cities. The statistical error in the poll does not exceed 4%.

Yanukovych and Tymoshenko pledged to protest against the results if they lose the vote, echoing the 2004 mass street protests known as the "orange revolution" that brought Yushchenko to power amid election fraud accusations against Yanukovych.

Observers, however, said a repeat of rallies is unlikely as Ukrainians have grown tired of political infighting aggravated by the economic crisis.

MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti)