On March 31, the Ukrainians went to their polling stations all across the country and abroad to cast their ballots and elect their sixth president.
The Kyiv Post asked some of those voting in downtown Kyiv who they were voting for and what led them to opt for their candidate.
The complete list of all 39 candidates and their brief profiles can be found here.
Hanna Tarasiuk,
pensioner
“I have voted for (incumbent President Petro) Poroshenko. As a religious person, I am very thankful to him for getting independence for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This issue was very important to me, and I’m glad to finally be part of a canonical church. Besides, it was him who saved Ukraine from our northern neighbor, Russia.”
Oleksandr Okhrymenko,
businessman
“My vote is for Volodymyr Zelenskiy. I want real changes in our country — not a regular reincarnation of old corrupt politicians, but changes for better. I can’t see tangible progress in combating corruption, as well as in many other reforms promised by incumbent authorities, so I’m giving a chance to new people.”
Myroslava Khoroshyn,
lawyer
“I voted for Petro Poroshenko. He is the only realistic candidate among them all. Of course, he is not ideal, and no one is, but the years of his cadence brought many tangible results and made things much better for Ukraine — that’s our visa-free travels with Europe, our resumed economic growth. I am satisfied with Poroshenko’s first term and want him to go on.”
Olena Smirnova,
pensioner
“I voted for Ihor Smeshko. We still have a war to fight, and he is proficient in military affairs, and also has good expertise in economics and combating corruption. I believe he would have destroyed corruption, but he is not going to win unfortunately, he’s got not a very strong rating. But I still voted for him — he is the most decent person of them all.”
Dmytro Mykhailov,
IT engineer
“My vote was for Anatoliy Grytsenko. I have been closely following his activities for several years, and I believe that what he proposes will help resolve our country’s problems. Ukraine still falls short of real justice and rule of law, court reform is not working, and corruption is all around. Because of this, I would never vote for Poroshenko. But I believe a more responsible and transparent president, in cooperation with the West, with journalists, can finally start bringing the reforms to reality, not endless promises.”
