Crucial elections in Ukraine

Voting began Sunday across Ukraine in what have been highly anticipated presidential elections aimed at abating months of turmoil in the country.

With pro-Russian separatists in the east vowing to disrupt the election, more than 75,000 police and volunteers were on hand to ensure voting was secure. Some 1,200 international observers were also in the country to monitor the vote.

Hours after the polls opened, Italy's Foreign Ministry reported that an Italian photojournalist, Andrea Rocchelli, was killed in eastern Ukraine, where he was covering the conflict ahead of the election.

In a statement, the ministry reported that Rocchelli was killed Saturday near the eastern city of Slovyansk, a hotbed of pro-Kremlin, anti-Kyiv sentiment.

The statement stressed that the journalist's body was awaiting official identification and that Rocchelli's family was due in Kyiv later in the day.

His body was reportedly taken to hospital along with that of his colleague, a Russian national. French freelance journalist William Roguelon, who had been travelling with Ronchelli, said the group came under fire on the outskirts of the town on Saturday.

"After we arrived we got shot at, we threw ourselves in a ditch, after they shot at least 40 shells onto us and the vehicle," he told journalists at a Slovyansk hospital.

Following the news of his death, journalist Maryana Drach took to Twitter to post about Rocchelli's work as a photojournalist:

Not all polls open

Ahead of the election, officials said many polling stations in Ukraine's Russian-speaking regions would not open over fears of attacks, which could spark contention over the vote's legitimacy. Of Ukraine's 36 million voters, around one-seventh live in regions most affected by the insurgent activity.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to recognize the outcome of Sunday's Ukraine vote.

The billionaire confectionary magnate Petro Poroshenko leads opinion polls. However, experts are skeptical about whether he can take more than 50 percent to win outright in one round. The 48-year old, who strongly backs closer ties with the EU, supported the protests against ousted president Viktor Yanukovych in February.

His closest rival is former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. After casting her ballot Sunday, Tymoshenko said that helping Ukraine join the European Union and NATO would be her first step if she's elected.

"It is time to conduct a referendum on NATO membership in order to return peace to the country ... so that nobody could never again encroach on our territory," she said.

hc/mkg (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)