Exit Poll Points To Landslide Zelenskiy Win As Voting Ends In Ukraine
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- As voting ended in the second round of Ukraine's presidential election, exit polling suggested TV comic and political newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskiy was headed for a landslide victory over incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.
The National Exit Poll said figures two hours before the polls closed on April 21 showed Zelenskiy winning 73.2 percent of the vote to Poroshenko's 25.3 percent. The survey, which will be updated with complete election results, was conducted jointly by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, the Kyiv International Sociology Institute, and the Razumkov Center think tank.
Zelenskiy has described his candidacy as "a simple man who has come to destroy this system," in a reference to public perceptions that post-Soviet Ukraine's politics and society are mired in corruption and nepotism against the backdrop of a five-year war against Russia-backed separatists.
Voters appeared unpersuaded by billionaire businessman Poroshenko's appeals for a second five-year term to bring a more seasoned political and diplomatic hand to the country's problems.
Official preliminary results were expected around 10 p.m. Kyiv time.
Zelenskiy won handily across the country, according to the National Exit Poll. He won 57 percent in western Ukraine, compared to Poroshenko's 41.3 percent. In central Ukraine, the poll shows Zelenskiy with 70.3 percent and Poroshenko with 28 percent. In the south, Zelenskiy polled 85.4 percent and Poroshenko 13.4 percent. In eastern Ukraine, the preliminary exit poll gives Zelenskiy 87.7 percent and Poroshenko just 11.2 percent.
Zelenskiy was expected to make a public statement shortly after polls closed.
Polls in the run-up to the second round showed Zelenskiy with a mounting lead. A survey released on April 18 by the Rating research group found that 57.9 percent of those definitely planning to vote said they would support Zelenskiy, with 21.7 percent backing Poroshenko.
Zelenskiy won the first round of voting on March 31 with 30 percent of the vote in a field of 39 candidates. Poroshenko took second with 16 percent.
A 41-year-old comic who shot to fame playing an accidental president in a TV sitcom, Zelenskiy joked with reporters as he voted in Kyiv early on April 21 that his wife had put him in a good mood ahead of time by playing him a song by American rapper Eminem.
"Today will be a victory for Ukrainians, a victory for Ukraine," he said, adding that he would hold a press conference in Kyiv at 8 p.m., immediately after polls closed. "We have united Ukraine."
Asked by RFE/RL what would be his first order of business if elected, Zelenskiy answered, "War and corruption."
Poroshenko, a 53-year-old chocolate mogul, also cast his ballot in Kyiv early in the day, urging voters to take their decision seriously and praising the conduct of the election.
"I am proud of the way the elections have been organized this year," Poroshenko told journalists. "Our citizens can freely express their will. Our democratic tradition is protected. This is what characterizes Ukraine as a European state."
"It's important to be guided by reason, not laughs," the president added, saying "it might be funny at first, but pain may come later."
Pollsters said in the months leading up to the voting that a majority of voters were hoping for dramatic changes after the election.
Outside the Maritime Academy where Zelenskiy voted, Kateryna Chala, the founder of an IT company, told RFE/RL that she had voted for Poroshenko.
Chala said Poroshenko has made mistakes since coming to power following pro-EU unrest and a Russian invasion in 2014 but has put Ukraine on a path toward the West she hopes will eventually lead to membership in the European Union and NATO.
"We have a lot of problems...like high gas prices, [high] prices in the shops..." she said. "I understand it's not possible to create a miracle and fix everything in just one day."
The mood was subdued at Poroshenko's election headquarters at the Mystetskiy Arsenal in the late afternoon on election day. A few campaign officials told journalists in the sparsely occupied press center that they hoped voters would make "the right choice."
In contrast, wine and champagne were being served at Zelenskiy's headquarters in a conference center just down the road, as about 300 people chatted. Zelenskiy campaign adviser Svyatoslav Yurash told RFE/RL that the campaign was "ready for victory," adding that he thought Zelenskiy could win "80 percent" of the vote.
Zelenskiy has run his campaign mostly on social media and has largely avoided substantial policy discussions. He has benefited from Ukraine's slumping economy, endemic corruption, and fatigue over Kyiv's ongoing five-year war against Russia-backed separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine.
He says he supports Ukraine's eventual membership in NATO but only if it is approved in a referendum. He has insisted that Russia must return the Black Sea region of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and pay reparations.
Zelenskiy has called for direct talks with Russia over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives. In the past, Moscow has rejected such proposals, claiming the conflict was an internal matter for Ukraine and urging Kyiv to negotiate with representatives of the Moscow-back separatist formations.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled in November 2016 that the war in eastern Ukraine was "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."
With reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Christopher Miller in Kyiv, AP, AFP, and Reuters
Preliminary exit polling shows challenger Volodymyr Zelenskiy with a landslide victory:
Speaking to supporters after the polls closed, Zelenskiy said, "We did this together."
"I promise that I will never let you down," he said. "And, since I am not yet president, I can speak just as a Ukrainian. Let the entire former Soviet Union look at us and see that anything is possible."
BREAKING: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has conceded the presidential election and congratulated challenger Volodymyr Zelenskiy on his victory. He promised not to leave politics.
More to follow.
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