Is Tihipko Surging?

The New York Times reports on "surprising gains" by Sergey Tihipko in recent days. Since publication of Ukrainian polls is not allowed because of the proximity to election day, this report relies on Russia's VTsIOM agency. While once an independent polling firm run by Yuriy Levada, the new VTsIOM has been branded as part of the Kremlin machine. While I do not have access to the raw data and cannot independently assess the poll, I suspect that it overstates Tihipko's gains. Although he was trending upward in Ukrainian polls, he was not on pace to catch Tymoshenko. But, we only have to wait until Monday to find out...