Volodymyr Zelensky, who plays a fictional president in poplar Ukrainian television show Servant of the People, will now take on Petro Poroshenko in a run-off vote on April 21. The presidential elections are the first national vote since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. But Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s foreign minister, has warned Ukraine still needs to prioritise claiming back Crimea and Donbass from Russia.
He said to CNBC: “We are not interested in having a frozen situation in Donbass because it is not in the interest of Russia.
“We need to get Donbass back, but we need to get Ukrainian Donbass back to Ukraine.
“I would not say that it should be the same patterns or the same model for Donbass and Crimea but we need to get back both occupied territories.
“It is a fundamental point of Ukrainian DNA.”
The Kremlin made several attempts to integrate Crimea into Russia since 2014, including building a bridge to link Crimea to southern Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also visited Crimea last month for the fifth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
But Crimea has become isolated due to western sanctions over the annexation increasing princes and slowing development.
Mr Klimkin does not believe Crimea has been lost to Russia permanently, however.
He said: “If you see what is going on in the sense of mood, in the sense of a change in mentality, it is a black hole in the sense of human rights.
“The people feel they are deprived of anything now in Crimea so let’s see what is going to come in the sense of our common efforts.
“We need to show also that we are able to attract people, to show them the Ukraine is their future.”
Meanwhile, Donbass, a region in Ukraine, has suffered five years of fighting against pro-Russian fighters.
At least 12,800 to 13,000 people have been killed from this, according to the United Nations.
Mr Klimkin is confident the Ukraine army can “counter” the Russian military.
He said: “Ukrainian military forces are completely different, now we have a real army.”