Candidates in Ukraine’s presidential election spent one final day campaigning on March 29 ahead of the crucial first round vote this weekend.
No campaigning or political advertising is allowed in Ukraine one day ahead of balloting on March 31.
Thirty-nine candidates are vying for the post, but only three are given a realistic chance of winning: the incumbent Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has been the surprise of the campaign, leading in all opinion polls.
Zelenskiy, who stars in a TV comedy series about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, has tapped into public frustration in Ukraine over the pace of reforms and the fight against graft.
In his last comedy show before the election, Zelenskiy and his traveling comedy troupe performed for a full house in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary.
Despite promising to not “campaign” while on stage, he took aim at his political opponents, especially the incumbent, quipping, “Why does Poroshenko want a second term? So he doesn’t get a first [prison] term.”
“There was no political campaigning tonight, right? You didn’t see any? You didn’t see any,” he told the audience of a few thousand people.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
No Joke: TV Comic Leads Ukrainian Presidential Race
At a political rally in the western city of Lviv on March 28, Poroshenko alleged that his two top rivals – Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko -- were being financed by self-exiled tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskiy, who splits his time between Israel and Switzerland.
"He has fled abroad, but he is simultaneously moving two figures on the election chessboard," Poroshenko asserted.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
From Chocolate King To Commander In Chief: Ukrainian President Fights For Reelection
Poroshenko claimed that Kolomoyskiy, a billionaire who has faced investigations and government pressure in Ukraine, wants to "to take revenge against the state" for the 2016 nationalization of his Privatbank.
Poroshenko also said that Vladimir Putin would fail in what he called the Russian president's bid to derail Ukraine's effort to join the European Union and NATO.
"Only the Ukrainian people, not Putin, not anybody else, not oligarchs who sit in Israel, will define what will be the future of Ukraine," he said. "I'm confident of this, and I'm confident that this future will be trans-Atlantic membership, NATO and Europe."
A reported 20,000 people attended the rally in Lviv amid a heavy police presence, which kept several hundred ultraright demonstrators from disrupting it.
Ultraright activists have dogged Poroshenko at his campaign stops across the country, accusing him of corruption and demanding the detention of those linked to a military embezzlement scheme.
Poroshenko has rejected the allegations dating back to 2015 and involving corruption with military procurement.
Meanwhile, Tymoshenko closed her campaign at a rally in Kyiv on March 29.
Tymoshenko, who came to prominence as a leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution and has run for president twice before, criticized the lack of progress in putting an end to the war in eastern Ukraine under the current peace talks format, which she called a waste of time.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Prisoner To President? Ukraine's 'Gas Princess' Aims For The Pinnacle Of Power
Since April 2014, some 13,000 people have been killed in fighting between Kyiv's forces and the Russia-backed separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict -- have contributed to a decrease in fighting but have failed to hold.
"Five years have been lost," the 58-year-old told a crowd of cheering supporters. "We need a new strategy," she said, adding that she wanted the United States to be involved in the talks.
Zelenskiy has pledged that, if elected, he will move forward with the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s interior minister has accused Poroshenko and Tymoshenko of bribing potential voters.
In a statement released late on March 28, Arsen Avakov said that his ministry is looking into hundreds of claims that campaigners for Poroshenko and Tymoshenko were offering money to voters who would promise to cast a ballot for their candidate.
He said most of the complaints, about sixty percent, were leveled at the Poroshenko campaign.
Avakov claimed neutrality, but he has heavily focused on alleged violations by Poroshenko's campaign.