Actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy took a commanding lead in the first round of the presidential elections according to the early results. With just over half of the ballots being counted early on Monday, Zelenskiy had 30.2% of the vote. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko was in a distant second place with 16.6% of the poll, followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with 13%, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine said, being quoted by IPN.
The voter turnout on March 31 was 63.52% in 199 regions.
In Moldova, polling stations were established at the Embassy of Ukraine in Chisinau and at the Consulate of Ukraine in Balti. No data about the voter turnout and voting results there have been made public yet.
With no one expected to secure a majority, a runoff with the leading two candidates will be held on April 21.
