Some 10,000 students rallied Saturday in downtown Ukrainian capital to support Viktor Yushchenko, the country's leading opposition figure and a top presidential candidate, and to push for a free and fair vote later this month. Students from several universities from across Ukraine formed a 3-kilometer-long (2-mile-long) column marching through downtown Kiev. Many students said police had set up roadblocks and checkpoints on routes leading into Kiev in an attempt to prevent them from joining the rally. Some claimed they had been beaten by police, while others reported «huge pressure» from university authorities to stay away. Police officials weren't immediately available for comment. Police in Kiev said that on Friday they found an explosive device in the headquarters of Ukraine's pro-Yushchenko youth organization, Pora, in downtown Kiev, the Interfax news agency reported. An earlier Interfax report cited police as saying that they had defused an explosive device planted near Pora's office. Police claimed that the explosives were found in briefcases in a room used by several Pora's activists and students. U.S. and other Western governments, along with international rights groups, have repeatedly warned Yanukovych, who is backed by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, that the vote could fall far from international standards.
