Ukrainian presidential candidates squared off Monday for the campaign's single televised debate prior to the December 26 run-off election ordered by the high court to redress complaints of voter fraud in the first run-off. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and former National Bank head Viktor Yuschenko did not hold back the punches as the debate got underway at 7 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) on the national television. "We are here (at this debate) because in the last election there was mass falsification of the vote," Yuschenko said in Ukrainian. "And my opponent was responsible for that." Yuschenko led the country's "Orange Revolution", which saw mass demonstrations against vote-fixing during the November 21 poll. "Your accusations against me and my voters...give little chance for us to look at our future together," Yanukovich shot back in Russian. Earlier in the month Yanukovich led an unprecedented meeting of eastern province leaders to discuss the regions' secession from the country. --More 2339 Local Time 2039 GMT
