Comedian Zelensky wins Ukraine election in landslide

Genya SAVILOV / AFP

Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky is set to become the country's next president.

With 42 per cent of ballots counted, exit polls showed that the political newcomer has won the run-off election by a landslide with more than 70 per cent support.

His rival, incumbent president Petro Poroshenko, has admitted defeat but told supporters he will not leave politics.

"I will never let you down," Zelensky told his supporters, adding, "I'm not yet officially the president. But as a citizen of Ukraine, I can say to all countries in the post-Soviet Union: Look at us. Anything is possible!"

More from International News

  • UN warns funding cuts threaten vital aid

    The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have sounded the alarm over severe funding shortfalls that are hindering life-saving humanitarian aid in countries including Nigeria, Burundi, and Colombia.

  • Multiple dead in Vancouver after vehicle plows into street festival

    A number of people were killed and multiple others were injured in Vancouver after a driver drove into a crowd at a Filipino street festival in the western Canadian city, police said on Saturday.

  • Rome and the world bid farewell to Pope Francis

    Presidents, royalty and simple mourners bade farewell to Pope Francis on Saturday at a solemn funeral ceremony, where a cardinal appealed for the pontiff's legacy of caring for migrants, the downtrodden and the environment to be kept alive.

  • Trump, Zelenskyy meet in Vatican basilica to seek Ukraine peace

    US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, met one-on-one in a marble-lined Vatican basilica on Saturday to try to revive faltering efforts to end Russia's war with Ukraine.

Coming Up