A member of Viktor Yanukovych’s campaign team told me before the exit polls they expected a much bigger margin of victory of around 10%.

So while Mr Yanukovych is already claiming victory, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is clearly not prepared to concede defeat so far.

All the experts I’ve spoken to said if it was a close result, Mrs Tymoshenko would probably contest it, either through the courts or by calling her supporters to the streets.

So the next key moment will be a news conference on Monday morning when the Central Election Commission announces the first official, but preliminary, results.

If the election commission confirms a very narrow victory for Mr Yanukovych, then this may embolden Mrs Tymoshenko.