AFP - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko Friday appealed for Ukraine's presidential polls to be declared void as a court began hearing her claim that she lost the election to Viktor Yanukovych because of fraud.

"The presidential elections were dishonest," she said in an hour-long emotional speech to a roomful of judges, vowing however she would accept any decision as long as it was fair.

"If everything is studied objectively, I will accept the decision (of the court), which is the will of the people, but I cannot accept double standards and I cannot give up."

Known for her predilection for beige designer outfits, the glamorous politician instead wore a black dress to the court, her trademark golden braid wrapped around her head.

Around 300 of her supporters gathered outside the supreme administrative court of Ukraine to support the defiant prime minister, but their numbers were dwarfed by a much larger pro-Yanukovych crowd.

Presenting the court with nine volumes of evidence, the fiery premier wants to repeat the success of the 2004 presidential campaign when courts overturned Yanukovych's victory and ordered a new election which he then lost.

Tymoshenko says the 2010 polls did not have fewer violations than those in 2004, but most analysts say Tymoshenko is facing an uphill battle as international observers have already praised this year's elections as fair and democratic.

Western leaders, including US President Barack Obama, have also congratulated Yanukovych on his victory.

Earlier this week Tymoshenko filed a complaint with the court demanding the results from the February 7 ballot be invalidated due to what she says were mass falsifications.

The court ruled that final election results be suspended while it hears the case of Tymoshenko.

Addressing reporters just before the hearing started, she pledged to fight until the end.

"Today I have not come to defend the presidential elections, I have come to defend Ukraine," she said.

"I don't want the future of my state, my people to be built on lies, on deception as happened during the 2010 elections."

Yanukovych defeated Tymoshenko by around 3.5 percent or just under 890,000 votes in the election, according to the final official results.

Tymoshenko contends that mass violations, which she says amount to one million votes, put the outcome in doubt.

Ukraine's parliament -- where Yanukovych's Regions Party is the largest faction -- has already set the inauguration for February 25 amid fears of a looming political crisis.

Vladyslav Lukyanov, a Regions Party deputy, told reporters nothing threatened the inauguration.

"I've already bought myself a tuxedo for the reception which will happen on the evening of the inauguration."

Lukyanov said that if the court did not procrastinate it could deliver a verdict within the next two days. It was unclear Friday however how long the court would take to deliver its decision.

Olexander Chernenko, head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a non-governmental organisation, told AFP that by law the court should take no longer than 48 hours to end the hearing.

Yanukovych vowed Friday not to allow the division of Ukraine, while his party accused Tymoshenko of using her influence to pursue personal gains.

"Tymoshenko continues to demonstrate a cynical and unceremonious violation of the constitution and law," the Regions Party said in a statement.

Yanukovych's victory heralded a return to a more pro-Russia orientation for Ukraine after the 2004 Orange Revolution which brought a pro-Western government to power in Kiev.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed hope Friday that following the political changes in Ukraine, the two countries would forge closer trade ties as Moscow is working to establish a single customs bloc with Belarus and Kazakhstan.