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| Zelenskiy wins second round of Ukraine's presidential election – exit poll | Zelenskiy wins second round of Ukraine's presidential election – exit poll |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A comedian with no political experience won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election on Sunday, exit polls showed, dealing a stunning rebuke to the country’s political establishment. | |
| Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose only previous political role was playing the role of Ukraine’s president on television, trounced incumbent Petro Poroshenko by taking 73% of the vote, according to exit polls conducted by several thinktanks. | |
| Poroshenko conceded defeat soon after the publication of the exit polls, Reuters reported. | |
| Poroshenko lost to his competition across all regions of the country, including in western parts where he had traditionally enjoyed strong support. | |
| It was an extraordinary outcome to a campaign that started as a joke but struck a chord with voters frustrated by poverty, corruption and a five-year war that has claimed 13,000 lives. | |
| The 41-year-old star of TV series Servant of the People will now lead a country of 45 million people having run on the vaguest of political platforms. | |
| After taking the most votes in last month’s first-round election, Zelenskiy had enjoyed a strong lead over the 53-year-old Poroshenko going into Sunday’s poll. | |
| Voting earlier in the capital Kyiv, the beaming frontrunner had said his campaign had managed to bring Ukrainians together. | |
| “We have united Ukraine,” he said, wearing a casual suit with a T-shirt, and accompanied by his wife. “Everything will be all right.” | |
| Sparkling wine was on offer at his campaign headquarters as his team prepared to toast his victory on Palm Sunday, a week before Orthodox Easter. | |
| Preliminary results were expected in several hours but the same exit polls were accurate in the first round. | |
| From Ukrainian-speaking regions in the west of the country to Russian-speaking territories in the war-torn east, many voters said they yearned for change despite fearing uncertainty. | |
| “We’re tired of all the lies,” said Marta Semenyuk, 26, who cast her ballot for the comedian. | |
| “I think it just cannot get any worse and I hope he’ll live up to his promises,” said Larisa, an 18-year-old student from the government-held eastern port city of Mariupol. | |
| Zelenskiy’s victory opens a new chapter in the history of a country that has gone through two popular uprisings in the last 20 years, and is mired in conflict against Moscow-backed separatists in the east. | |
| His supporters say only a fresh face can clean up Ukraine’s politics. | |
| However, others doubt that Zelenskiy will be able to take on the country’s influential oligarchs, and negotiate with the likes of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. | |
| “People have gone mad,” said Viktoriya Olomutska, a 39-year-old Poroshenko supporter in Kyiv. “Cinema and reality are two different things.” | |
| Earlier on Sunday, Poroshenko had warned Ukrainians against taking a chance on Zelenskiy. | |
| “Because this is not funny. Well, at first it can be a bit funny and then it might hurt afterwards,” Poroshenko said, after casting his ballot. | |
| The comedian shunned traditional campaign rallies and instead performed comedy gigs and used social media to appeal to voters. | |
| The Ukrainian president has strong powers over defence, security and foreign policy but needs backing from parliament to push through reforms. | |
| Poroshenko’s faction has the most seats in the current legislature and new parliamentary polls are due in October. | |
| The west has closely watched the presidential contest amid concerns that a new government might undo years of economic reforms in Ukraine. | |
| Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, called both Zelenskiy and Poroshenko on the eve of the runoff vote. | |
| Ukraine | Ukraine |
| Europe | Europe |
| Petro Poroshenko | Petro Poroshenko |
| news | news |
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