Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gestures during a parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019. During the plenary session the Ukrainian parliament voted to the Constitution on joining the EU and NATO. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
February 14, 2019 - 4:17 AM
MOSCOW - The latest opinion poll in Ukraine shows a popular comedian holding a strong lead in campaigning for the presidential election.
The survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology and released Thursday shows 41-year-old comedian Vladimir Zelenskiy, who plays the nation's president in a popular TV show, with nearly 27 per cent of the vote.
Incumbent leader Petro Poroshenko is trailing with less than 18 per cent of the vote and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, once an odds-on favourite, is seen polling 16 per cent.
The survey, which has a margin of error of 3.3 per cent, is based on the responses of 2,007 people who said they already know who they will vote for in the March 31 election.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019