Television comic Volodymyr Zelenskiy is the frontrunner in Ukraine’s presidential election race, but opinion polls suggest that no candidate will get close to the 50 percent of votes needed to win in a first round. In an example of life imitating art, the 41-year-old Zelenskiy – who plays Ukraine’s president in popular TV series Servant of the People – finds himself surging ahead of his main rivals in the run-up to the March 31 vote. Zelenskiy argues that his lack of political experience is an advantage in an election climate in which voters have seen their hopes for a better future squashed. Incumbent Petro Poroshenko and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko are currently trailing Zelenskiy in second and third places, although polls differ on who is in the stronger position.