Albright joins election observers in Ukraine

by Kyle Balluck - 05/25/14 9:26 AM ET

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is in Ukraine, leading the National Democratic Institute’s election observation mission.

Albright tweeted a picture from a polling station Sunday morning.

I spent the morning observing polling stations with @NDI as #UkraineVotes. pic.twitter.com/wJAS4uwWnK

— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) May 25, 2014

Ukraine, which has been engulfed in turmoil with Russia, is holding presidential elections Sunday after ousted President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia amid protests in the country.

High turnout is reported at polling stations in Ukraine.

“These are extremely important elections. We have to make sure Ukraine becomes a truly independent country, a powerful independent state that nobody will be able to push around,” pensioner Mihailo Belyk, 65, told Reuters as he voted in a southeastern district of the Kiev.

A delegation of lawmakers including Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is also in Ukraine to help monitor the vote.

In Ukraine observing their presidential elections. An important day for Ukrainians. pic.twitter.com/bgAUSREKul

— Rob Portman (@robportman) May 25, 2014

Portman tweeted that more than 100 Ukrainians “gave their lives fighting for a free & democratic Ukraine.” “Their spirit lives on” through the election, he added.

Cardin tweeted that Russia “has violated just about every agreement they’ve entered,” adding that observers were hoping to see a “free and fair election.”