Ukraine Election: Surprise named Zelensky and public opinion from Moscow

Limited political experience

Amid widespread public discontent with the country's corruption and faltering economy, the 41-year-old, who has only limited political experience playing the president on a TV show, beat out other mainstream candidates by a landslide.

Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky (right) and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

Election results announced on April Fools' Day - irony is rife on social media in Ukraine - showed Mr Zelensky won more than 30% of the vote in the first round held on March 31, nearly double the 16% won by incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.

The two candidates will meet in the second round on April 21, after 93% of the votes were counted, showing that former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and dozens of other candidates had to stop the race.

If Zelensky wins this round as polls and experts predict, he will take over one of Europe's poorest countries - a nation of 45 million people struggling in a struggle against Russian-backed separatists in the industrial east.

Before that, for many weeks in a row, Zelensky regularly led opinion polls in which the main question was always who would meet him in the second round of elections: Tymoshenko or Poroshenko.

However, the huge difference in his vote share with the runner-up still created a big surprise. Poroshenko admitted that this result was a “bitter lesson” for himself as well as all other officials.

Meanwhile, Tymoshenko, who rose to international prominence as the face of the 2004 Orange Revolution and is running for president for the third time, has alleged “fraud” in the vote count.

However, a monitoring mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on April 1 that the election was generally “well-organized, smooth, transparent and effective”.

Comedian has high chance of becoming President of Ukraine

According to analyst Anatoliy Oktysyuk of the Democracy House consultancy in Kiev, it will be “very difficult” for Poroshenko to beat the comedian in the upcoming runoff.

“He (Poroshenko) has no room to move forward. He has played all his cards. This is a protest against the old politicians, and a call for new faces,” the expert stressed.

The surge in support for comedian Zelensky has further fueled Russian enthusiasm for his calls for dialogue with Moscow.

Volodymyr Zelensky became the most popular candidate for President of Ukraine. Photo: Getty

Some observers say Russian leaders want Zelensky to win because a figure with no political experience like him would easily make mistakes, helping Moscow strengthen its claim that Ukraine has sunk deeper into crisis after turning its back on neighboring Russia.

Meanwhile, for ordinary people in Russia, who were too frustrated after 5 years of Moscow and Kiev being stuck in political conflict, Zelensky appeared as a breath of fresh air, creating change.

Irina, 21, was enthusiastic when talking about Zelensky: “He speaks Russian, is very funny and not corrupt…” As for 38-year-old lawyer Maxim Vorobyov, Zelensky would be a politician “less anti-Russian, he is young, dynamic and finally he is not the worst candidate of Ukraine”.

While Zelensky plans to continue Kiev's pro-Western course, he also supports dialogue with Moscow to end the conflict with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The political rift between Russia and Ukraine arose after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and the conflict between the Ukrainian government and separatist forces that broke out in the east of the country left more than 13,000 people dead, seriously affecting cultural relations between the two countries.

However, none of this can erase the common cultural heritage of Russians and Ukrainians, such as Russian literature, Soviet and post-Soviet films, songs and TV shows, including the series that made Zelensky a famous comedian.

Zelensky and his troupe have been touring Russia regularly for years, and he also appeared in the Russian-Ukrainian comedy “Love in the Big City,” which the film’s director, Marius Weisberg, said, not forgetting to express pride in having “discovered such an incredible actor.” “Zelensky is one of the five most famous comedians in Russia today,” he said.

However, Zelensky's career in Russia was abruptly interrupted after Moscow annexed Crimea and supported rebels in the conflict in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.

Zelensky still says he is ready to talk directly with Putin if the Kremlin boss agrees to return Ukrainian territory.

“If I meet Putin, I will tell him: 'You finally gave us back our territory, are you ready to pay us more compensation for taking our land and supporting those who contributed to the escalation of the conflict in Crimea and Donbass?'” he said on March 31.

Many Russians are following the election in Ukraine, but most also predict that there will be no change in relations between the two countries after this event./.