Zelenskiy, who stars on a TV comedy series about a teacher who becomes president after denouncing corruption, won nearly twice as many votes as Poroshenko in the first round of voting on March 31
native Russian speaker from south-central Kryviy Rih, Zelenskiy has spoken out against the Poroshenko government’s restriction on Russian language in government, media, and art. He has also taken a stand against bans on artists from Russia visiting Ukraine
The election results mirrored three separate exit polls, which showed Zelenskyy, who portrays a teacher-turned-president in a television series, with at least 30 percent. All the polls put Poroshenko in second with about 18 percent, while Tymoshenko followed with around 14 percent