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Comedian wins Ukrainian presidential race

April 23, 2019 00:00:00


Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife Olena — Reuters

KIEV, Apr 22 (Reuters): Ukraine entered uncharted political waters on Monday after near final results showed a comedian with no political experience and few detailed policies had dramatically up-ended the status quo and won the country's presidential election by a landslide.

The emphatic victory of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, is a bitter blow for incumbent Petro Poroshenko who tried to rally Ukrainians around the flag by casting himself as a bulwark against Russian aggression and a champion of Ukrainian identity.

With 95 per cent of votes counted, Zelenskiy had won 73 per cent of the vote with Poroshenko winning just under 25 per cent, the central election commission said.


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