Ukraine election: comedian Volodymyr Zelensky favourite to beat billionaire President Poroshenko in April 21 run-off

The strong showing for the comedian with no political experience reflects the public longing for a fresh leader who has no links to the corruption-ridden Ukrainian political elite

A run-off between the top two candidates in the race will take place on April 21

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy, comedian and presidential candidate. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:43pm, 31 Mar 2019Updated: 11:21pm, 1 Apr 2019

A comic actor with no political experience was leading strongly in Ukraine’s presidential election and will be in a run-off for the job in three weeks, according to results released on Monday.

With nearly 84 per cent of the polling stations counted, Volodymyr Zelenskiy had 30 per cent support in Sunday’s vote, while President Petro Poroshenko was a distant second with about 16 per cent of the vote.

Ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko trailed behind with 13 per cent. The results were in sync with a top exit poll.

The strong showing for the 41-year-old Zelenskiy reflects the public longing for a fresh leader who has no links to the corruption-ridden Ukrainian political elite and can offer a new approach to settling the grinding five-year conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

“This is only the first step toward a great victory,” Zelenskiy said after seeing the exit poll findings.

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