Comedian Elected President of Ukraine By Georgi Kantchev
https://www.wsj.com/articles/comedian-elected-president-of-ukraine-exit-poll-shows-11555867039
Ukrainians elected a comedian with no political experience as president Sunday in a damning verdict on their ruling class five years after a violent pro-Western revolution, exit surveys of voters showed.
Volodymyr Zelensky, who plays a school teacher-turned-president in a Ukrainian TV series, trounced incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with about 73% percent of the vote, according to national exit polls shortly after voting ended.
In the first round of voting in March, Mr. Zelensky defeated Mr. Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, gaining more votes than both of the political heavyweights combined.
Ukraine, Europe’s second poorest nation, has been a major flashpoint in deteriorating relations between the West and Russia since Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula and launched a covert military operation in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Mr. Zelensky, who has a pro-Western platform but is largely unknown in Washington and Europe, could make the West uncomfortable while providing an opening for better relations with Russia, some Western officials and Russia-watchers say. He has said he would seek dialogue with Moscow.
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