KIEV, May 20 — Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old comedian who took office as Ukraine’s president today, announced the dissolution of parliament in his inaugural speech in order to hold early elections.

“I dissolve the Verkhovna Rada of the eighth convocation,” the newly sworn-in president said during the ceremony in parliament in Kiev.

The next parliamentary polls had been scheduled for October.

Zelensky does not command majority support in the current parliament and has wrangled with hostile lawmakers whom he accused of deliberately delaying his inauguration and called “petty crooks.”

Ahead of his inauguration, Zelensky had already threatened to launch the highly complex process of dissolving parliament and calling new elections in order to benefit from his current popularity.

His team said in a statement on Friday that the country needs “a parliament that functions.” — AFP </s> UKRAINE - Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky announced a snap parliamentary election during his swearing-in as Ukraine’s new president. The election was expected to take place in October 2019. But at the ceremony in Kiev Mr Zelensky said “I am dissolving the Verkhovna Rada (parliament)”. He said ending the conflict with Russian-backed rebels in the east would be his top priority.

A political novice, he campaigned strongly against official corruption.

“People must come to power who will serve the public,” he said on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would not congratulate Mr Zelensky on his inauguration, but would wait for “the first successes in settling the internal conflict in south-eastern Ukraine, and in normalising Russian-Ukrainian relations”. Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Ukraine’s new leader to implement the Minsk peace accord agreed in 2015, and also suggested an “all for all” prisoner swap between both sides.

Mr Zelensky a former television star, acted the part of Ukrainian president in a popular comedy series. He scored a landslide victory in last month’s presidential election. “We must become Icelanders in football, Israelis in defending our native land, Japanese in technology,” he said at the swearing-in.

He said Ukrainians must also “become Swiss in our ability to live happily with each other, despite any differences”.

“Our first task is to achieve a ceasefire in Donbas,” he said, referring to the eastern region controlled by Russian-backed rebels. In the election Mr Zelensky ousted incumbent Petro Poroshenko, who had been in power since 2014.

Mr Zelensky has given few details of his plans since winning by a landslide on 21 April. He has left it to a team of advisers to try and reassure people that he knows what he’s doing. Mr Zelensky made his inaugural address in Ukrainian but at one point, referring to the conflict in the east, he switched to Russian, saying: “I’m convinced that for this dialogue to start, we must see the return of all Ukrainian prisoners” - apparently a message to the Russian government.

Fighting in the east has claimed about 13,000 lives since Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014.

Zelensky starred in the long-running satirical drama Servant of the People in which his character accidentally becomes Ukraine’s president.

He plays a teacher who is elected after his expletive-laden rant about corruption goes viral on social media.

He ran under a political party with the same name as his show.

With no previous political experience, Mr Zelensky’s campaign focused on his difference from the other candidates rather than on any concrete policy ideas.

Despite this, he stormed to victory and won more than 70% of the vote. </s> KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The Latest on Ukraine's politics (all times local):

Ukraine's new president has signed a decree dissolving the parliament and calling a snap election in two months.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced his intention to disband the legislature minutes after being sworn in Monday. His decree dissolving the Verkhovna Rada and setting early elections for July 21 was posted on the presidential website Tuesday.

The current parliament is dominated by allies of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and Zelenskiy hopes to ride the wave of his electoral success to get his supporters into parliament.

An adviser to the new Ukrainian president says that he will sign a decree formally dissolving the parliament and calling snap elections within days.

Andriy Bohdan, adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in televised remarks Tuesday that the president would send the decree in the coming days. He said he hopes that parliament would vote for changes to the electoral law before it is disbanded.

Moments after he was sworn into office, Zelenskiy dropped a bombshell when he said he is dissolving the parliament, dominated by allies of the former Ukrainian president. Zelenskiy sat down with political leaders Tuesday morning to discuss the dissolution.

Bohdan said the meeting with the lawmakers showed that they would be willing to adopt the electoral changes Zelenskiy has proposed. </s> DONBASS – President of Ukraine Zelensky will end the war in the Donbass by arranging the “night of long knives” for the Nazis and the radicals. So says Ukrainian ex-deputy Oleg Tsarev, reports “TsarGrad” , referring to the comment of the policy of the FAN .

According to him, Zelensky is 90% likely to end the war in the Donbass by fulfilling the Minsk agreements in the form in which they were signed. At the same time, he will try to negotiate with the LDNR directly, removing his rival Medvedchuk from them.

Tsarev notes that Zelensky is not going to share his power with anyone, including with the Ukrainian Nazis. The former parliamentarian does not exclude that in the near future the radicals are waiting for the “night of long knives.”

He assumes that as a step towards Russia to the Crimea, the water supply from Ukraine, which was suspended in 2014, can be restored. As for the recognition of the Crimea as a territory of Russia, this is a more complicated question.

“Not a single Ukrainian politician can not afford to give up the Crimea. At least, as long as there is no “transfer of power” in Kiev, – explained Tsarev.

Today, parliamentary deputy Rabinovich said that the party of war is leading in parliament, which will lead Ukraine to a catastrophe .

Earlier, a Ukrainian political analyst said that, according to the preliminary results of the elections to the Verkhovna Rada, the forces leading up to the country’s entry into NATO and the EU and for hundreds of years of war with Russia are leading in the Ukrainian parliament .

Note that today the leader of the party “Servant of the People” Razumkov said that the new composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine may begin work in late August .

Also today, he said that the party “Servant of the People” does not see the point in creating a coalition in the Rada .

In addition, it was reported that the CEC of Ukraine processed half of the electronic protocols .

The Central Election Commission has not recorded serious violations in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada.

Yesterday after the closure of polling stations in Ukraine, official exit poll data were published. The first place in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada was predictably occupied by the party of the current president of Zelensky, “The Servant of the People”. The second is behind the Boyko-Medvedchuk Opposition Platform.

Earlier, the Kiev police reported massive violations of electoral legislation on the eve of elections. </s> Sitting President Poroshenko has just admitted defeat, but promised that he would not leave politics: his party is preparing for parliamentary elections. And the future president Zelensky is already preparing for the inauguration.

scored 73.7%, Petro Poroshenko – 26.3%. The All-Ukrainian exit poll was conducted by the 112 Ukraine TV channels and NewsOne, the SORA Institute for Social Research and Consultations (Austria), the Social Monitoring Center, the Ukrainian Institute for Social Research. A. Yaremenko.

By 20:00, results of exit polls in Ukraine became known. According to the “Ukrainian exit poll”,

Unlike President Poroshenko, the musician and leader of the Okean Elzy group Svyatoslav Vakarchuk actually came to the polling station in embroidery and stressed that in this election he votes for Ukraine.

Vakarchuk, who had previously announced his intention to return to politics, officially refused to take part in the presidential election. According to him, “in jeans, he can do more for the country than wearing a tie.” Subsequently, he said that he would focus on the October elections to the Verkhovna Rada.

Poroshenko’s block will go to be elected to parliament

Concentrating on parliamentary elections the “Blok of Petro Poroshenko” will push ahead. The head of the BPP faction in the Verkhovna Rada Arthur Gerasimov said that the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko admitted his defeat. After the first round, in which Vladimir Zelensky won, more and more often the public discussed the possibility of announcing early parliamentary elections if he succeeds in becoming the sixth president of Ukraine.

“The main thing is not to let the hands loose. And the parliament, it is, let them dissolve. It’s not a problem. Every politician should be ready for elections. We’re in power. If we lose today, we’ll be in opposition. This is a normal life. I don’t see big problems here, ”said Verkhovna Rada deputy from the BPP faction, Alexey Goncharenko . </s> Ukraine’s new president has ordered the dissolution of the nation’s parliament and called a snap election in two months.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comedian who won 73% of the vote last month, announced his intention to disband parliament in his inauguration speech on Monday, saying that current MPs are focused on self-enrichment and lack public trust.

He quickly fulfilled the promise in Tuesday’s decree that set the parliamentary election for July 21.

The election to the Verkhovna Rada was originally scheduled for October 27, a situation that would have put Mr Zelenskiy in a position where he would face a parliament dominated by supporters of former president Petro Poroshenko and would be unable to pursue his agenda for months.

Mr Zelenskiy, who has become famous for playing the role of a Ukrainian president in a popular TV sitcom, is gambling that his popularity will allow his party to make a successful showing in the parliamentary vote.

“Zelenskiy is trying to act as quickly as possible, because he realises that voters’ excitement will cool down in half a year,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kiev-based independent think-tank Penta.

His foes in parliament sought to push back his inauguration past the May 27 deadline by which the parliament can be dissolved, but eventually had to submit to public pressure.

Mr Zelenskiy’s landslide victory reflected Ukrainians’ exasperation with the country’s economic woes and rampant official corruption and the nation’s political elite.

He has already asked several top ministers to step down, but he will likely have trouble getting their successors appointed by the current parliament.

In his inaugural speech, Mr Zelenskiy said that the main goal for the presidency is to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, where government troops have been fighting Russia-backed separatists for five years in a conflict that has left at least 13,000 dead. </s> Poland expects Polish-Ukrainian affairs be an important part of the new Ukrainian government’s agenda, said a Polish presidential aide after early results of Ukraine’s Sunday parliamentary election showed the Ukrainian president’s party is on course to win big.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party will likely to form a one-party parliamentary majority, for the first time in Ukraine’s history.

“One party rule is not only an opportunity for full implementation of the political programme, but also a responsibility,” the head of Polish President Andrzej Duda’s office, Krzysztof Szczerski said on Monday, adding that, after the elections to the Ukrainian parliament on Sunday, Verkhovna Rada, the political milieu of Zelensky, will take full responsibility for the future fate of Ukraine.

“We will therefore wait for the formation of a new cabinet and information on its political priorities,” the Polish president’s aide said.

“We expect, as President Andrzej Duda said after the first meeting with President Zelensky, that the matters which are important in Polish-Ukrainian relations, will be an important part of the political agenda of the new government, and politically coherent with the President of Ukraine,” Szczerski said. “We are ready to cooperate, but we also expect good talks with the new Ukrainian authorities on common Polish-Ukrainian topics,” he added.

Krzysztof Szczerski also said that President Zelensky is expected to visit Warsaw to attend events marking the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, on September 1.

“There is such a will, so I also do not rule out that the Ukrainian president’s first official visit to Poland will take place on September 2, the Polish official said, adding that it would be a good opportunity to talk about the new Ukrainian government’s policy.

Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said the ruling party had secured 42.3 percent of the votes, after almost half had been counted on Monday. The Russian-friendly party, Opposition Platform for Life, was in a distant second place with 12.7 pct, followed by former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko’s party, European Solidarity, which secured 8.7 pct. The party of former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko, garnered a little above 8 pct support, while Voice, fronted by rock star Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, received 6.3 pct.

The remaining parties did not pass the 5 pct threshold to enter parliament. (PAP) </s> President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has agreed with chairpersons of the Verkhovna Rada factions on scheduling the snap parliamentary election for July 21.

Chairperson of the Radical Party faction at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Oleh Liashko, has said this to the press, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

The leader of the Radical Party noted that the Ukrainian Parliament would hold an extraordinary meeting to amend the election legislation.

First deputy chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Heraschenko, has warned against a too rapid amendment of the election legislation and told about absence of constitutional reasons for disbandment of the Verkhovna Rada.

She said that chairperson of the Central Election Commission, Tetiana Slipachuk, was also present at the consultations between President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and heads of the parliamentary factions.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on Monday, Zelenskyi said he would disband the Verkhovna Rada. </s> KIEV, Ukraine - The Latest on Ukrainian politics (all times local): A party that was part of a ruling coalition in Ukraine has criticized the newly sworn president’s decision to disband parliament and call snap elections. Ukrainian television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would disband the legislature immediately after being sworn in as president Monday, castigating the current lawmakers as people focused on self-enrichment. The People’s Front party that was part of the ruling coalition and withdrew from it last week in a manoeuvr intended to make it more difficult for Zelenskiy to disband parliament, criticized Zelenskiy’s move as unlawful but said it was ready for early elections.

It charged that Zelenskiy hopes to ride the wave of his electoral success to control parliament. Once Zelenskiy signs a decree disbanding parliament, a snap election will be held within two months.

Ukraine’s prime minister says he will resign in a largely symbolic move that comes hours after the newly-sworn President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s decision to disband the parliament and call snap elections. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said he would resign Wednesday, inviting Zelenskiy to take full responsibility for the country. His resignation needs to be approved by parliament. If it accepts Groysman’s resignation, he will still serve as acting prime minister until lawmakers name a new Cabinet after the elections.

Zelenskiy, who won 73% of the vote last month, needs a quick vote to replace the old legislature dominated by his predecessor’s supporters. His political party has been leading the field by a broad margin. Once Zelenskiy issues a decree formally disbanding the parliament, the snap election will be held within two months. The Kremlin has voiced hope that the newly sworn Ukrainian president will help normalize ties with Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t plan to send congratulations to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy following his official swearing-in earlier. Peskov said Putin would only congratulate Zelenskiy on the “first successes” in settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine and normalizing relations with Russia. Relations between the two countries have been strained ever since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Asked if Russia could meet Zelenskiy’s demand to release Ukrainian prisoners, Peskov told reporters that Moscow is willing to continue talks on the issue. Ukrainian television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been sworn in as president and immediately disbanded the Ukrainian parliament. Disbanding the Supreme Rada was one of his campaign promises, for Zelenskiy had branded the body as a group of people only interested in self-enrichment. Before he made the announcement, Zelenskiy asked the parliament to adopt a bill against illegal enrichment and support his motion to fire the country’s defence minister, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service and the Prosecutor General. All of them are allies of former President Petro Poroshenko, who lost the presidential election in a landslide to the comedian who had no previous political experience. In a feisty speech after his inauguration, Zelenskiy told the Rada that his main goal for the presidency is to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, where government troops have been fighting Russia-backed separatists for five years. Ukrainian television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday disbanded the parliament after he was sworn in as new president. Disbanding the Supreme Rada was one of the campaign promises of Zelenskiy who branded it as a group of people only interested in self-enrichment. Before he made the announcement, Zelenskiy asked the parliament to adopt a bill against illegal enrichment and support his motion to fire the country’s defence minister, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service and the Prosecutor General. All of them are allies of Petro Poroshenko who lost the election to the comedian with no previous political experience. In a feisty speech after his inauguration, Zelenskiy told the Rada that his main goal for the presidency is to bring peace to eastern Ukraine where government troops have been fighting Russia-backed separatists for five years. “I’m ready to do everything so that our heroes don’t die there,” he said. “I’m ready to lose my popularly and, if necessary, I’m ready to lose my post so that we have peace.” Zelenskiy ditched the idea of a traditional motorcade and walked to the parliament through a park packed with people. Flanked by four bodyguards, he was giving high-fives to some of the spectators and even stopped to take a selfie with one of them. 41-year-old Zelenskiy garnered 73 per cent of the vote at the presidential election last month in a victory that reflected Ukrainians’ exhaustion with politics-as-usual. Rumours about Zelenskiy’s potential bid first surfaced when he played the Ukrainian president in a television show several years earlier. Zelenskiy wrapped up his speech at parliament by referring to his career as a comedian. “Throughout all of my life I tried to do everything to make Ukrainians laugh,” he said with a smile. “In the next five years I will do everything so that Ukrainians don’t cry.” </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Volodymyr Zelensky and his supporters celebrate winning Ukraine's presidential election

Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky has scored a landslide victory in the country's presidential election.

With nearly all ballots counted in the run-off vote, Mr Zelensky had taken more than 73% with incumbent Petro Poroshenko trailing far behind on 24%.

"I will never let you down," Mr Zelensky told celebrating supporters.

Russia says it wants him to show "sound judgement", "honesty" and "pragmatism" so that relations can improve. Russia backs separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The comments came from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, in a Facebook post on Monday (in Russian).

He said he expected Mr Zelensky to "repeat familiar ideological formulas" that he used in the election campaign, adding: "I have no illusions on that score.

"At the same time, there is a chance to improve relations with our country."

Mr Poroshenko, who admitted defeat after the first exit polls were published, has said he will not be leaving politics.

He told voters that Mr Zelensky, 41, was too inexperienced to stand up to Russia effectively.

Mr Zelensky, a political novice, is best known for starring in a satirical television series Servant of the People, in which his character accidentally becomes Ukrainian president.

EPA Volodymyr Zelensky 73%landslide win on 21 April Comedian but trained as a lawyer

Instagram star with 4.2m followers

Millionaire thanks to his production company Kvartal 95

Linked to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky through show on TV channel 1+1 Source: Ukrainian and international media

He told reporters he would "reboot" peace talks with the separatists fighting Ukrainian forces and volunteers in the east.

"I think that we will have personnel changes. In any case we will continue in the direction of the Minsk [peace] talks and head towards concluding a ceasefire," he said.

There are sporadic skirmishes and the situation also remains tense around Crimea, annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014.

Time for the joking to stop

Analysis by Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Kiev

Ukrainians are waking up this morning and discovering that the last few months were not a dream.

They really have elected a man who currently stars in a TV series as the president - as the country's next real president. And it wasn't even close.

The pressure will now be on Mr Zelensky to demonstrate that he knows what he is doing.

Throughout the election campaign, he avoided serious interviews and discussions about policy - preferring instead to post light-hearted videos to social media.

He's got about a month before the inauguration. Then the comedian-turned-president will be faced with a complex in-tray that includes a simmering war with Russian-backed rebels in the east.

Mr Poroshenko, who has been in power since 2014, said the result of the election "leaves us with uncertainty [and] unpredictability".

"I will leave office but I want to firmly stress - I will not quit politics," he said.

Presidential election results. Second round Latest as of 13:50, 30 April, Kiev time (BST +2).

UKRAINE Turnout: 62.09%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 73.22

Petro Poroshenko: 24.45

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Lviv Turnout: 67.34%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Petro Poroshenko: 62.79

Volodymyr Zelensky: 34.49

Petro Poroshenko:Volodymyr Zelensky: Transcarpathia Turnout: 46.38%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 80.67

Petro Poroshenko: 16.69

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Mykolayiv Turnout: 60.66%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 85.52

Petro Poroshenko: 12.52

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Ivano-Frankivsk Turnout: 59.96%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 54.58

Petro Poroshenko: 42.46

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Volyn Turnout: 64.25%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 63.42

Petro Poroshenko: 33.97

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Rivne Turnout: 60.7%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 60.06

Petro Poroshenko: 37.49

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Ternopil Turnout: 64.05%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 50.43

Petro Poroshenko: 46.64

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Vinnytsia Turnout: 62.52%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 62.97

Petro Poroshenko: 34.74

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Dnipropetrovsk Turnout: 65.89%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 87.25

Petro Poroshenko: 10.81

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Donetsk Turnout: 57.23%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 86.94

Petro Poroshenko: 10.59

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Zhytomyr Turnout: 61.16%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 73.62

Petro Poroshenko: 24.23

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Zaporizhzhya Turnout: 64.26%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 86.55

Petro Poroshenko: 11.51

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Kiev region Turnout: 64.22%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 70.02

Petro Poroshenko: 27.68

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Kirovohrad Turnout: 60.53%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 80.47

Petro Poroshenko: 17.51

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Luhansk Turnout: 56.35%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 89.44

Petro Poroshenko: 8.43

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Odesa Turnout: 58.95%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 87.21

Petro Poroshenko: 10.6

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Poltava Turnout: 64.9%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 82.15

Petro Poroshenko: 15.62

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Sumy Turnout: 62.85%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 82.12

Petro Poroshenko: 15.87

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Kharkiv Turnout: 64.66%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 86.88

Petro Poroshenko: 11.17

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Kherson Turnout: 57.42%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 83.02

Petro Poroshenko: 15.05

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Khmelnytsky Turnout: 62.67%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 70.8

Petro Poroshenko: 26.83

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Cherkasy Turnout: 60.93%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 77.43

Petro Poroshenko: 20.13

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Chernivtsi Turnout: 54.09%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 75.87

Petro Poroshenko: 21.64

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Chernihiv Turnout: 62.61%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 77.8

Petro Poroshenko: 19.99

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko: Kiev city Turnout: 65.85%

Turnout: Votes for each candidate (%): Volodymyr Zelensky: 60.17

Petro Poroshenko: 36.95

Volodymyr Zelensky:Petro Poroshenko:

Billionaire Mr Poroshenko was elected after an uprising overthrew the country's previous pro-Russian government.

In a tweet, he said "a new inexperienced Ukrainian president... could be quickly returned to Russia's orbit of influence".

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Petro Poroshenko was elected after an uprising overthrew the previous pro-Russian government

But Russia's foreign ministry said Ukrainian voters had expressed their desire for political change.

"The new leadership now must understand and realise the hopes of its electors," deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin told the Ria Novosti news agency. "This of course applies to domestic as well as foreign affairs."

What's the reaction been?

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Mr Zelensky in a phone call, as did Poland's President Andrzej Duda.

In a tweet, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "You will now truly be the Servant of the People."

The US embassy in Ukraine tweeted its congratulations while European Council President Donald Tusk said the EU was "determined to continue its support" for Ukraine.

Skip Twitter post by @eucopresident A decisive day for Ukraine. Free elections and peaceful change of power = strong Ukrainian democracy. Congratulations to Volodymyr Zelensky. The EU is determined to continue its support. — Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) April 21, 2019 Report

Who is Volodymyr Zelensky?

Mr Zelensky starred in the long-running satirical drama Servant of the People in which his character accidentally becomes Ukraine's president.

He plays a teacher who is elected after his expletive-laden rant about corruption goes viral on social media.

He ran under a political party with the same name as his show.

With no previous political experience, Mr Zelensky's campaign focused on his difference to the other candidates rather than on any concrete policy ideas.

Despite this, he won the first round with more than 30% of the vote - almost double what Mr Poroshenko got when he finished in second place with 15.95%.

What do voters think of him?

Analysts believe Mr Zelensky's informal style and vow to clean up Ukrainian politics resonated with voters who are disillusioned with the country's path under Mr Poroshenko.

Eschewing traditional campaign tactics, Mr Zelensky channelled his on-screen persona by promising to stamp out corruption and loosen the grip of oligarchs on Ukraine.

Experts say his supporters, frustrated with establishment politicians and cronyism, have been energised by his charisma and anti-corruption message.

His critics, meanwhile, are sceptical about his credentials, with many expressing concern over his close links to the billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.

They have expressed doubts that he will be able to take on the country's influential oligarchs and stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Former comedian and reality television actor Volodymyr Zelensky is sworn in as the 6th President of Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada. Zelensky announces the dissolution of parliament and calls a snap parliamentary election.