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On Sunday, Ukrainians will head to the polls to elect a new parliament. The elections will be pivotal. Once a promising democracy, Ukraine has become increasingly authoritarian over the past two years.

In a close 2010 election, Ukrainians elected Viktor Yanukovych to the presidency. Yanukovych hails from eastern Ukraine, which is traditionally pro-Russian and, during his first two years in office, he has pushed Ukraine slowly but surely away from the West and back into the Russian sphere.