Thousands rally in Kiev in support of incumbent president
Poroshenko trailing in opinion polls ahead of Sunday's election
19 April, 17:13Poroshenko will be hoping he can help turn the tide in a televised debate Friday against his opponent, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who grew popular thanks to a television show where he plays the Ukrainian president. Poroshenko warned supporters in Kiev that a victory for Zelenskiy would damage the country's closer economic and political cooperation with the European Union. He said Zelenskiy would be a weak president to the benefit of Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has been bankrolling separatists in Ukraine's east.
(ANSA-AP).