Rivals in Ukraine’s presidential runoff debate at stadium
KIEV, Ukraine — A comedian who is the front-runner in Ukraine’s presidential race and the incumbent fighting to retain his job traded accusations in a debate at a sports stadium Friday, just two days before the election.
President Petro Poroshenko, who is trailing in opinion polls ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff, accused his rival, 41-year-old comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, of lacking the political experience needed to keep Ukraine on its pro-Western course and resist Russia’s attempts to draw the country back into its orbit.
While Poroshenko charged that his rival lacks a clear program, Zelenskiy shot back, calling the president “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Zelenskiy, who is widely popular for playing a Ukrainian president fighting corruption in a popular TV sitcom, held the Ukrainian leader responsible for the nation’s economic woes and endemic corruption. He insisted that he would continue pushing Ukraine to further integrate into the West.