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Zelensky and Poroshenko head to a runoff
Summary
A look back at the first-round results reported on 3 April 2019 in Ukraine's presidential election.
What did the first round of Ukraine's presidential election actually settle? As reported on 3 April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky won the first round with 30 percent of the vote, while President Petro Poroshenko came second with 15 percent. Turnout was 63 percent.
The vote had been held on 31 March 2019, with 39 candidates on the ballot. No candidate reached the share needed to win the presidency outright, so the top two were sent to a runoff, scheduled for 21 April.
What came later
The Central Election Commission later announced that Zelensky had won the second round on 21 April with 73.22 percent of the vote. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe recognised the elections as free and fair.
Elsewhere in the news
On 2 April 2019, Russia opened a helicopter training facility in Venezuela. Under the plans, the Russian state-owned company Rostec was to train Venezuelan pilots to operate Mi-35M gunships and transport helicopters. The move came after the White House warned Moscow against sending troops or military equipment to the country.
