Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a native of the industrial southeastern city of Kriviy Rih, carried every region of Ukraine but Lviv in the west, a cradle of Ukrainian nationalism where Poroshenko beat him by nearly 30 percent.
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
Tackling corruption is invariably among the issues Ukrainians cite as a top priority for the next president. Incumbent Petro Poroshenko and newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskiy face a final round runoff April 21. There are growing fears that government resolve is stalling after Ukraine’s Constitutional Court in February struck down a law against officials enriching themselves