A topless activist from the feminist art protest group Femen accosted incumbent Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko at a polling station in a local election, accusing him of being a “pimp” for allegedly running protection rackets for local brothels.
Klitschko was casting his ballot Sunday in a mayoral election, which he was expected to win by a wide margin.
The activist accosted the mayor, brandishing her bare torso with the words: “Stop Klitschko the Pimp” written in English across her chest, according to Ukraine's Ukrinform news agency and photographs published by the feminist group.
She was escorted away by security guards, Ukrinform reported.
Femen activists allege that Klitschko has been campaigning for the legalization of prostitution in Ukraine, and accuse the mayor of running a “protection racket” for illegal sex industries, according to the Femen website.
Shortly after polls closed, exit polls showed that Klitschko has been reelected as mayor. An exit poll conducted by the Kiev International Sociology Institute indicated the incumbent may have received more about 65 percent of the vote, Ukraine's TSN television and news agency reported Sunday.
Voter turnout during Sunday's run-off election was 28 percent, compared to more than 41 percent in the first round of the balloting, media reports said.
