Face to face: Ukrainians are waiting for today’s presidental debates at Olimpiyskyi Stadium

The second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine will take place on April 21.

At 19:00 on April 19, a showman Volodymyr Zelenskyi and current president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko are now due to face off in a question-and-answer format at Kyiv’s 70,000-seat Olimpiyskyi Stadium.

Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskyi will perform on different stages, with their own musical bands and support groups,- reports Zurab Alasania, the CEO ofUkraine’s National Public Broadcasting Company (UA:PBC).

The UA:PBC will not broadcast the debate, the candidates themselves will select the television channel for their broadcast.

On April 3, Zelenskyi replied to Poroshenko’s invitation to participate in debates and put forward his conditions. He wanted to hold debates at NSC Olympiskyi. Poroshenko’s team said, “the President does not perform at stadiums”. A few hours later Poroshenko changed his mind and agreed to participate in the debates.

The two candidates took drug tests at Zelenskiy’s insistence in a campaign that has been marked by theatrics on both sides.

On April 7, Poroshenko stated that he waited for Volodymyr Zelensky on April 14 at NSC Olympisky. In his turn, Zelensky reported that he wanted to hold the debates with Poroshenko on April 19.

On April 14, Petro Poroshenko arrived at the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex in Kyiv, where he was waiting for his election rival, showman Volodymyr Zelenskyi, for a debate ahead of the election runoff. However, Zelensky did not show up.

According to the official voting results of the first round of presidental elections, Volodymyr Zelenskyi got 30.24% of the vote (5,714,034 votes), and Petro Poroshenko – 15.95% (3,014,609 votes).

The second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine is scheduled for Sunday, April 21.