Kiev, Ukraine ? Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared victory today in Ukraine’s fiercely contested presidential election, telling thousands of supporters they had taken their country to a new political era after a bitterly fought campaign that required an unprecedented three ballots and Supreme Court intervention against fraud.

“There is news: It’s over. Now, today, the Ukrainian people have won. I congratulate you,” he told the festive crowd in Kiev’s central Independence Square, the center of weeks of protests after the fraudulent and now-annulled Nov. 21 ballot in which Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych had been declared the winner.

“We have been independent for 14 years but we were not free,” Yushchenko said. “Now we can say this is a thing of the past. Now we are facing an independent and free Ukraine.”

Yushchenko spoke after three exit polls and partial results projected him winning an easy victory over rival Viktor Yanukovych.

As he declared victory, about 5,000 supporters gathered on the square applauded and set off fireworks. They waved flags of bright orange — his campaign’s emblematic color — clasped hands and danced.

Earlier, Yushchenko told journalists and others crammed into his campaign headquarters that Ukraine had opened a new era, which would include neither current President Leonid Kuchma nor Yanukovych, the prime minister and candidate hand-picked by Kuchma to be his successor.

With ballots from just over 80 percent of precincts counted, Yushchenko was leading with 55.09 compared to Yanukovych’s 41.09 percent. Yushchenko did not appear to be making inroads in his opponent’s territory so much as solidifying his dominance in places that had already supported him.

Earlier in the evening, a dejected-looking Yanukovych told reporters in Kiev “if there is a defeat, there will be a strong opposition.” But he did not concede, saying “I am ready to lead the state,” and hinted he would challenge the results in the courts.

“We will defend the rights of our voters by all legal means,” he said, ruling out negotiations with Yushchenko were the opposition leader to win.

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko flashes V-for-victory signs as he addresses a news conference early today in Kiev, Ukraine. His wife, Kateryna, is at left.

Some 12,000 foreign observers had watched Sunday’s unprecedented third round to help prevent a repeat of the apparent widespread fraud on Nov. 21 that prompted the massive protests inside the nation and a volley of recriminations between Russia and the West.

Both campaigns complained of violations, but monitors said they’d seen far fewer problems.

“This is another country,” said Stefan Mironjuk, a German election monitor observing the vote in the northern Sumy region. “The atmosphere of intimidation and fear during the first and second rounds was absent … It was very, very calm.”

The vote count got under way after polls closed at 8 p.m. (noon CST), and the Central Election Commission estimated that turnout was around 75 percent.