KYIV, Feb 20 - Comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy is the frontrunner in Ukraine’s presidential election ahead of incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, according to the latest opinion poll published on Wednesday.

A survey, conducted by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center, showed the 41-year-old Zelenskiy, a political novice, was also ahead of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Zelensky is leading among candidates with 17.5% of respondents willing to vote for him (19% among those who intend to go to the polling station), according to the poll.

Poroshenko (13.1% and 16.8% respectively) and Batkivshchyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko (11.5% and 13.8% respectively) have almost equal opportunities to make it to the second round of elections.

Zelensky will also outrun both Poroshenko (32.2% to 19.1%) and Tymoshenko (28.7% to 18.6 in the second round of elections).

"If Tymoshenko and Poroshenko make up a second-round pair, both have equal chances to win (22.4% and 20.0% respectively), according to the poll.

The center said it had interviewed 2016 voters in all regions, except in annexed Crimea, from Feb. 7 to Feb 14.
The election takes place on March 31, where 44 candidates are set to compete.

Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the leader of the Civic Position Party, has support of 5.9% of respondents and 7.3% of those who actually plan to cast their ballot, the poll iondicated.

Head of the Opposition Bloc Yuriy Boyko will receive 6.3% and 7.1%, respectively, and leader of the Radical Party Oleh Liashko will gain 4.3% and 4.8% respectively.

The poll involved 2,016 respondents aged 18 and older in all regions of Ukraine (except for temporarily occupied territories in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea). The margin of error does not exceed 2.3%. (rt/tl/ez)