Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko Travels to Donbas to Cast Vote

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has travelled to the restive eastern Donbas region of the country to vote in the ongoing snap polls instead of voting in the capital Kiev.

The Ukrainian leader arrived in the conflict zone in the morning and is likely to stay there throughout the day to monitor the polling.

"President Poroshenko arrived in Donbas," presidential spokesperson Svyatoslav Tsegolko wrote in the official Twitter account. His exact whereabouts have not been revealed, apparently due to security considerations.

Local reports suggest Poroshenko would cast his vote in Donbas, where the Ukrainian forces continue to fight pro-Russian forces.

"My husband is in Donbas now. He went there with the purpose of controlling the course of voting," Poroshenko's wife Maryna told reporters after casting her vote in Kiev.

Millions of Ukrainians are eligible to vote in the ongoing snap elections which will elect new members of parliament, known as Verkhovna Rada.

With polling unlikely to take place in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea, about 27 seats are likely to remain vacant in the 450-seat single-house legislative body.

The election has so far witnessed heavy to dull polling.

More than 85,000 security personnel have been deployed across the crisis-torn country to ensure smooth polling. No untoward incident has been reported.

The Ukrainian president's Petro Poroshenko Bloc, comprising the Solidarity Party and former boxer Vitali Klitschko's Udar, is expected to do well.

A parliamentary majority for pro-western candidates could give a free hand to Poroshenko to find a solution to the conflict.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's People's Front is also tipped to enter parliament along with other nationalist parties.