Section: Voice of America (USA)
Ukraine: A Fresh Start?
Sunday’s landslide runoff election win in Ukraine by TV comic Volodymyr Zelenskiy over incumbent President Petro Poroshenko is being hailed by the entertainer’s supporters as a fresh start for Europe’s poorest country. But the 41-year-old’s critics, who dubbed him the “hologram candidate” during the campaign, say it...
Volodymyr Zelenskiy Wins Landslide Victory in Ukraine Presidential Election
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a television actor, has won a landslide victory in the Ukrainian presidential election Sunday. Exit polls show he received around three times as many votes as incumbent Petro Poroshenko, who conceded defeat Sunday evening. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Zelenskiy’s supporters say the country needs an outsider to tackle...
Ukraine Holds Runoff Presidential Election
Voters in Ukraine went to the polls Sunday to elect the country’s next president. The runoff vote pits incumbent President Petro Poroshenko agaisnt Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a standup comic who plays a fictional president in popular television series. The 41-year-old Zelenskiy, who has no political experience, is heavily favored to defeat...
Incumbent or Comedian? Ukrainians Choose a President
Polls opened Sunday in Ukraine’s presidential runoff as the nation’s incumbent leader struggles to fend off a strong challenge by a comedian who denounces corruption and plays the role of president in a TV sitcom. Opinion surveys ahead of the vote have shown 53-year-old President Petro Poroshenko trailing far behind comic actor...
Ukraine Quiet Ahead of Presidential Election
A comedian who plays the role of Ukraine’s president on television is set to take on the job for real, pushing out the man who currently holds the office, according to public opinion surveys ahead of Sunday’s election. Saturday was a so-called “day of quiet,” on which electioneering is forbidden, a respite from a campaign...
Ukrainian Presidential Candidates Trade Insults in Final Debate
The two men vying to be Ukraine’s next president traded insults and accusations in a final raucous debate on Friday in front of thousands of supporters ahead of a decisive run-off vote this weekend. The debate, held in a hulking football stadium, was one of the last opportunities for incumbent President Petro Poroshenko to try to overhaul a...
Ukraine Readying for Sunday’s Presidential Election
Last minute preparations are underway for voters in the Eastern European country of Ukraine to select their next president on Sunday. They will choose between President Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a standup comic who plays a fictional president in a popular television series. The 41-year-old Zelenskiy, who has no political...
Putin Ally Makes Pitch to Probable Next Leader of Ukraine
Ukraine’s new president could regain control over the separatist-controlled east of his country within months and get cheap gas and major investment from Russia if he does a deal with Moscow, the Kremlin’s closest ally in Ukraine said. Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s Russia-leaning opposition, outlined the...
Ukraine Election: The President vs. the Guy Who Plays One on TV
Ukraine’s presidential runoff Sunday is a battle between a billionaire tycoon who rode anti-Russian protests to the nation’s top office five years ago and a comedian who plays a president in a TV sitcom. Improbably, the actor appears poised to win. Comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s commanding lead in the polls reflects...
Leaders of Russia, Estonia Sit Down for Talks
The presidents of Russia and Estonia have sat down for talks at the Kremlin for the first time in nearly a decade. Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid arrived in Moscow on Thursday to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin. Putin told Kaljulaid in opening remarks that the lack of high-level contacts between Russia and Estonia is “not a normal...
