Section: The Guardian (The United Kingdom)
Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko agrees to drug test before debate with TV comic
Challenger and frontrunner Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he is ready to take on the presidentUkraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, has agreed to give blood for a drug test before a debate at the capital’s Olympic stadium with his rival in the country’s made-for-TV elections.It was not immediately clear whether Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a...
A comedian could be Ukraine’s next president. How did that happen? | Volodymyr Ishchenko
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has united a polarised country by rejecting angry nationalism – but his politics offer no panaceaA politically inexperienced comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is in the lead after the first round of presidential elections in Ukraine – and by a huge margin. He is almost 15 percentage points ahead of the incumbent president, Petro...
How funny is the comedian who may be Ukraine’s next president?
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is the leading candidate to take the top job in his country – so who is he, and will he bring the laughs?It’s a gag worthy of an Armando Iannucci screenplay. And yet it is real. In this week’s presidential run-off in Ukraine, 41-year-old actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political unknown, leads the pack of...
Speaking slang and ‘educated Geordie’ | Brief letters
Regional dialects | Boycotting posh hotels | April Fools’ Day | Comedians in politicsKaty Guest affirms the Oxford English Dictionary’s contribution to our understanding of regional English varieties (Embrace our regional slang, or you can kiss my chuddies, 1 April), but we should not forget the work of that other pillar of the...
Ukraine elections: TV comic favourite to win against incumbent president in runoff
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has big lead over Petro Poroshenko in first round, but second round will be bitterly fought Ukraine’s runoff elections is likely to pit a comedian who plays the president on TV against the country’s actual president – and the comedian is the favourite.With more than 67% of Sunday’s first-round results...
Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejoices at first exit poll victory in Ukraine’s election – video
‘Thanks for all the Ukrainians who did not cast their vote as a joke,’ comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy said as he took the lead in the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election. Zelenskiy, 41, who plays a fictional president in a popular TV show, has consistently led opinion polls in a three-horse race against incumbent Petro...
Ukrainians vote in election in which TV comic could take presidency
Volodymyr Zelenskiy ahead of Petro Poroshenko and ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko in pollsUkrainians have gone to the polls in a crucial vote that could see a comedy actor with no political experience move a step closer to becoming the country’s next president.Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who plays the president in a television series called Servant of the...
Ukraine’s candidates push limits of ‘quiet day’ before polls open
Country bans campaigning on day before an election, but candidates find ways around rulePresidential candidates in Ukraine are banned from campaigning the day before Sunday’s highly contested vote. But Ukraine’s “quiet day” has not been all that quiet.Turn on television channel 1+1 and you’re likely to see the poll leader...
Ukraine goes to polls with TV comic eyeing the presidency
Actor Vladimir Zelenskiy is tapping into the protest vote as favourite in Sunday’s voteUkraine goes to the polls on Sunday with a comic who plays the president on his own TV show the favourite to become the next president in a protest vote against the country’s leaders.Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an actor with no prior political experience,...
BBC to pay ‘substantial’ sum for story libelling Ukrainian president
News report on TV and online claimed Petro Poroshenko had bribed Donald Trump’s lawyer The BBC has agreed to pay substantial libel damages to Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko after wrongly claiming that he had been involved in making a secret $400,000 payment to Donald Trump’s lawyer in return for access to the US...
