Comedian Set to Win First Round of Ukraine Presidential Vote

Comedian Set to Win First Round of Ukraine Presidential Vote
FILE PHOTO: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukrainian comic actor and candidate in the upcoming presidential election, takes part in a production of the Servant of the People television series in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo
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KYIV—Ukrainians exhausted by five years of war and decades of official corruption look set to send a comedian with no political experience into a second round run-off against the incumbent when they vote in the March 30 presidential election.

The favorite in March 30 first round vote is Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice who plays a fictitious Ukrainian president in a popular TV series and who, in real life, has tapped into an anti-establishment mood among voters.