Comments by Ukrainian journalist and political analyst Vitaly Portnikov to Current Time, a project led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA:
“Essentially, we are witnessing the collapse of the state of Ukraine that was founded in 2014, which was preceded by the collapse of the corrupt Yanukovych’s state. Right now, we’ve got Zelenskiy – of whom we are completely unaware as to how capable he will be to run the country – and four oligarchs who taught Poroshenko a lesson: If you touch us, if you fail to stick to your promises [to us], and if you believe you can get away with it by simply relying on the people, you’re wrong, because we control TVs and we control jobs in the country.
"The state of 2014 will continue gasping for air after today’s election, but what’s to come is one big unknown. Another oligarchic state? More of the same with new faces?
"The true answer can only be expected after the parliamentary elections in the fall.”
Dinara Habibullaieva, a pro-Poroshenko youth organizer who has advised the president on the campaign trail, told RFE/RL at the House of Officers where she came to support the current president, that she was worried about the progress made under Poroshenko being rolled back under Zelenskiy.
Habibullaieva cited European integration, visa-free travel, a revamped military, and laws elevating the Ukrainian language as achievements she was proud of.
"I think no president before managed to do these things," she said. "For me and for our Ukrainian youth, this was very big."
She said she was very worried about the outcome of the election and what may come from a Zelenskiy presidency.
"Our president should be strong and brave...in a country which is under pressure from Russia and Russian aggression," she said, adding that she believed Poroshenko was that person.
"People could elect this showman," she said in a reference to Zelenskiy.
She hoped people would "think responsibly" and vote for Poroshenko, which she likened to voting for a "European future."
Across town...
As he arrived at Kyiv's House of Officers to cast his vote, Poroshenko told RFE/RL he would continue fighting if he lost the election and made a last-minute pitch to voters.
About a comic and political novice winning the election, he said: "It's not funny."
"At first it can and will be fun, but then it can be painful," Poroshenko told reporters.
"For Ukraine, this [election] is a decisive choice," he continued, adding that a vote for Zelenskiy could mean "the return of Ukraine back to the influence of the Russian Empire."
More from RFE/RL's Christopher Miller in Kyiv:
Outside the Maritime Academy where Zelenskiy cast his vote, Kateryna Chala, the founder of an IT company who was joined by her three children, told RFE/RL in English that she had voted for Poroshenko.
At the same time, Chala admitted that Poroshenko had made mistakes during his presidency, but ultimately he put Ukraine on a westward path she hopes will eventually lead to membership in the EU and NATO.
"We have a lot of problems...like the high price for gas, [high] prices in our shops...I understand it's not possible to create a miracle and fix everything in just one day," she said, cutting Poroshenko some slack.
"I don't like Mr. Zelenskiy, not only because he doesn't have enough practice in governing, but if you see his comments during the past five years, you understand that he doesn't like Ukraine," Chala said, referring to jokes in the comic's past stand-up shows that poked fun at Ukrainians in a manner that made them seen inferior to Russians and rubbed some here the wrong way.
"His humor isn't positive. He sees Ukrainians as second-level people."
Chala said Zelenskiy seems to live "in his own world" and said she thought he isn't totally independent, adding that his connection to oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskiy, who owns the TV channel on which Zelenskiy's shows are broadcast, disturbed her.
Fearful that things may take a turn for the worse under a Zelenskiy presidency -- including a possible return to full-scale war with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and an economic recession -- Chala said, "I even told my children, we need to know English and other languages and to be ready to go our own way.
"Maybe not to go abroad tomorrow, but to be ready to make a new life if we understand that in Ukraine we have bad changes."
From RFE/RL correspondent Christopher Miller in Kyiv:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, emerging from a black van dressed in a blue suit, white T-shirt, and dark sunglasses, was met by a crowd of journalists as he arrived at the Kyiv Martime Academy to vote on Sunday morning.
Asked by RFE/RL what would be the first issues he would take on if elected president, he answered, "The war and corruption."
As he cast his ballot, Zelenskiy said his wife, who accompanied him to the polling station, had put him in a good mood ahead of time by playing him a song by American rapper Eminem, although he couldn't remember the song. "It went like..." he said, trailing off and bobbing his head.
After being asked who he voted for, Zelenskiy chuckled and dodged the question. "Today will be a victory for Ukrainians, a victory for Ukraine...We have united Ukraine," he said.
