Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's firebrand opposition leader, appeared last night to have made big gains in the country's parliamentary election, boosting her position in a three-way power struggle with Viktor Yushchenko, president, and Viktor Yanukovich, prime minister.

Exit polls suggested Ms Tymoshenko's BYuT bloc won 30-33 per cent of the vote, up from 22 per cent in last year's election. The polls indicated that support for her two rivals was broadly unchanged - with 14 per cent for Mr Yushchenko's pro-west Our Ukraine and 33-36 per cent for Mr Yanukovich's Russia-friendly Regions party.