Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's pro-Russian opposition leader who was ousted from power just five years ago, has claimed a slender win the country's presidential election.

Official results put him around three per cent ahead of Yulia Tymoshenko, his bitter rival in Sunday's runoff who has so far refused to concede defeat.
 
Yanukovych was elected president back in 2004 but following nationwide protests in what become known as the Orange Revolution, the result was annulled and Yanukovych was defeated in the revote.

He argues that this latest result vindicates what was dismissed as a flawed election in 2004.

Does Yanukovich's victory mean that the Ukrainian people have turned their backs on the promise of the Orange Revolution or does it show that the spirit of democracy is still triumphant?

This episode of Inside Story aired from Monday, February 8, 2010.