MOSCOW, May 25. /ITAR-TASS/. A mere 667 voters out of 27,000 Ukrainian national eligible to vote at a polling station in Moscow cast their votes in Ukraine’s snap presidential elections by 16:00 Moscow time, Viktor Girzhov, chairman of the polling station at the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow, said on Sunday.

He said the number of those willing to take part in the voting went up by evening. He also noted that the boundaries of the election district coincided with the boundaries of the consular district, and this fact should be taken into account when speaking about the turnout. “It means that among those eligible to vote in Moscow are Ukrainian who live in such Russian regions as Belgorod and Bryansk region, which are located closer to Ukraine than to Moscow,” he said. “It’s hard to expect that all of them would take part in the voting, although we have invited them all.”

At the same time, Girzhov noted that the turnout was higher than at the parliamentary elections in 2012. “Back then, the overall turnout was less than 500 people,” he said. “The biggest turnover was at the presidential elections in 2004 - about 3,500 voters came to the polling station at the embassy to take part in the elections. I hope today if not break this record but at least come close to it.”

He thanked the Moscow police for efforts to ensure law and order on the voting day. “There have been no incidents, no actions here,” he noted.

Meanwhile, some of those who took part in the voting told ITAR-TASS they had some claims regarding the organization of the election process. They said that voting was possible only for those registered with the consular department upon presentation of a foreign passport. Therefore, they said, several people who had no necessary documents had been allowed to cast their votes.

Commenting on these claims, Girzhov said his election commission was acting in strict compliance with the Ukrainian law. “Ukrainian citizens who are not living permanently on the territory of a consular district should have filed an application for taking part in the voting in advance,” he said. “Many acted this ways. It is impossible to put a person on the voter list on the voting day.”