Thousands were lining up to the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv to see Ukraine’s first ever presidential debate at a sports arena on April 19, which was also the first debate between the presidential frontrunners in the last 15 years.
An unusual idea to bring the debate to a football stadium was proposed by comedian actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy in early April. President Petro Poroshenko agreed although wasn’t supportive of the format of the debate.
The country was anticipating the big show over the last three weeks.
Waiting to get into a campaign-divided fan zone section, the supporters of Poroshenko held printed tickets they had to collect earlier the day, while the fans of Zelenskiy came with printed out electronic tickets they received online.
According to police estimates, 22,000 people attended the debate.
When the debates were over, spectators had divided opinions on who performed better – the incumbent president Poroshenko or famous showman Zelenskiy. None of the ones that Kyiv Post spoke to said that they changed their minds on who they would support during the final presidential election vote on April 21.
But both sides admitted it was not a political discussion but rather a show worthy to be seen.
“It was an impressive show but I have not heard any specific ideas,” said Halyna Dmytrash, 43, a doctor from western Ukrainian Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and a Poroshenko supporter. “Is this a state or a comedy show?”
“Poroshenko looked lost and didn’t answer a single question from Zelenskiy,” said 22-year-old actress Diana Besschastna, a native of Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine. She enjoyed the debate although she didn’t think it was necessary.
Besschastna will vote for Zelenskiy just as she did in the first round. “I want changes in Ukraine,” she said.
Thousands of police officers maintain public order and safety at the Olympic stadium in Kyiv on April 19, 2019, during the presidential debate between final round candidates incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and comedic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Poroshenko’s camp
For Poroshenko who is polling with 25-27 percent against Zelenskiy’s more than 70 percent, the debate was one of the chances to break the situation and get more supporters before a critical vote.
He made the unprecedented efforts in the last weeks to hold several debates with Zelenskiy. He challenged Zelenskiy to have the debates at Olympic Stadium on April 14. Zelenskiy refused, so instead of a debate, Poroshenko held a rally followed by a presser as he answered questions to journalists at the stadium’s press center next to a vacant tribune prepared for his rival.
On April 19, Poroshenko also made more efforts to fill in his part of the stadium. His team was delivering free tickets at Kyiv’s central Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, and also brought people to Kyiv by the dozens in buses, which were parked in different parts of the city.
Some of the people from the buses admitted to journalists they were the workers of government enterprises brought there by local authorities who were expressing their support of those currently in power. This type of support strategy has also been used by Poroshenko’s predecessors.
But this also made some of the president’s supporters unhappy because they didn’t receive the promised tickets.
“There are just 60 tickets left, you won’t get them. But I have stripes for anyone who wants them,” said a man with a bunch of stripes colored with the stars of the European Union and Ukrainian flag colors. The disappointed people took the stripes and left.
Poroshenko’s camp was also delivering Ukrainian flags, so many came to his fan zone wrapped in flags and danced there to Ukrainian rock songs waiting for Poroshenko’s arrival. Some of them wore military uniform while others wore T-shirts of Ukrainian political prisoners kept in Russia.
Elvira Bulat, 50, a Crimean Tatar businesswoman who left the peninsula in 2014 following the Russian annexation, was wrapped in a Ukrainian flag and wore a cap having “Ukraine” written on it. She said she came to support Poroshenko as “the first patriotic president of Ukraine.” She added that people who are supporting Zelenskiy are “either naive or openly pro-Russian.”
Soon after Poroshenko came to the stage, he left it and rushed across the stadium to the side of his rival. People in Poroshenko’s fan zone, which had a significantly larger presence than Zelensky’s, had to watch the show from the other part of the field. They couldn’t come closer because the fan zones were separated by a fence and two cordons of police to prevent any possible clashes.
Nevertheless, Poroshenko’s fans kept on cheering him up and shouting at Zelenskiy “Liar.” They were getting especially angry when Zelenskiy several times switched into Russian and was reading from a paper.
“I am talking to you without a paper, why does a person who wants to become president read from a paper,” Viktor Demchenko, a 64-year-old pensioner from the suburbs of Kyiv, told the Kyiv Post.
Demchenko said that Poroshenko “made a lot of harm” but he came to support the incumbent president for the future of Ukraine and of his little grandson who came to the debate along with him.
Sometimes the hyped emotions lead to clashes. Two women started shouting at each other discussing Ukraine’s utility tariffs. One of them blamed Poroshenko telling him to “go back to your Donetsk!” while her opponent shouted back as men were pulling the angry women away from one another.
Not all the people in Poroshenko’s fan zone were supporting him. Some seemed apathetic while others even clapped when Zelenskiy made some jokes.
Dozens of athletic young men, who wore signs reading “To save Ukraine” on their shoulders were not listening to the debate discussion. They mostly kept close to each other and didn’t agree to give their names to the press.
“He speaks well but he never does what he promises,” one of them said with a grin. When asked by the Kyiv Post what he was doing in Poroshenko’s fan zone, he refused to explain.
Supporters of President Petro Poroshenko arrive in his fan zone ahead of the presidential debate with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv on April 19, 2019. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Zelenskiy’s camp
In contrast, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s fan zone was far less crowded.
The actor’s campaign distributed free tickets through a website launched late at night on April 16. It quickly got overloaded due to the website’s large traffic. But the turnout at the stadium was poorer than it had been expected.
A few attendees, to whom the Kyiv Post spoke to, said that possible reasons for the low turnout of Zelenskiy’s supporters might have been security concerns and that Poroshenko’s campaign bussed his supporters in from other regions.
Small in number, Zelenskiy’s fan base was nevertheless loud and forceful. Whenever Poroshenko took the floor they booed him and gave him thumbs down in disapproval.
The crowd hung on his every word and condemned him shouting “Shame” or “Lies.” Some would comment on the president’s speech shouting “Why are you lying again?” or “Did you forget about your promises?”
Since campaign paraphernalia was officially banned at the event, Zelenskiy supporters wore clothing items or accessories of green color – Zelensky’s official campaign color – others held up their smartphones with the “Ze” campaign logo.
A 23-year-old YouTube blogger Maksym Kodzhaspirov looked like a road construction worker in his green vest and bright orange helmet holding a poster “Petya out.”
“I am against Poroshenko. I didn’t vote in the first round thinking that he wouldn’t make it to the runoff. But he did so now I’m doing everything for Zelenskiy to win,” he said.
Andriy Rodionov, 41, from Kyiv said he would definitely vote for Zelenskiy.
“I give him the benefit of the doubt. Why not Poroshenko? I think five years has been enough to show what the president is capable of. He made some mistakes I can’t forgive,” he said demonstrating his t-shirt that read “Porokh fuck off.”
Just like Zelenskiy did at the stage, his supporters held up two fingers symbolizing a victory sign.
Natalia, 43, drove to Kyiv with her husband and teenage daughter all the way from Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine. During the debate, she emotionally yelled at Poroshenko “Answer!”
“Poroshenko didn’t give any answers. He turned on his ‘actor mode’ as usual,” Natalia told the Kyiv Post after the debate, fearing to give her last name.
“I am not a fan of the idea of having Zelenskiy as president but I want some change. And I feel like with Poroshenko there won’t be any change. Life in Ukraine isn’t easy, and we have been contemplating moving abroad. Our daughter is graduating from high school soon,” she said.
Supporters of presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy react emotionally to his debate with incumbent President Petro Poroshenko at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv on April 19, 2019. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Outcome
Despite some fears, the stadium debates went peacefully.
Poroshenko once again showed his bravery, rushing to the side of the rival camp and speaking under the shouts of his opponents. Zelenskiy proved to be witty as he kept on accusing his political rival with thought-through comebacks.
The observers admitted that neither of the candidates gave any answers. The debate, originally designed as a platform for the candidates to talk about their policies and approaches to various issues of domestic and foreign policies, turned into a rancorous exchange of insults and sharp yet inane remarks.
“I’m not your opponent. I’m your verdict,” Zelenskiy told Poroshenko. “I’m the result of your mistake and promises.”
Poroshenko snapped back: “You are not a pig in a poke. You are a poke. A poke filled with oligarchs and former members of the Party of Regions.”
“Better to be a pig in a poke than a wolf in a lamb’s skin,” Zelenskiy replied.
Sociologist Iryna Bekeshkina wrote on Facebook that the debate was “a fight in the dirt” and said she felt disgusted after watching it.
Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said it was a “competition of nerves and drafts prepared by political technologists” where neither candidate lost or won.
Fesenko believes the debates changed nothing and the results of the vote will be about the same as poll predictions.
Ukraine’s presidential candidates, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko (L) and comedic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy (R), clash in a debate at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv on April 19, 2019. (Volodymyr Petrov)
See the photo gallery of the debate here
Read our live coverage of the debate here and watch a video from the stadium.
