Zelensky election victory due to protest vote: analyst Political analyst Mykola Davydyuk says comedian Volodymyr Zelensky's victory in the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election is "due to a protest vote" and could be explained "by the fact that Zelensky is rather new, atypical, bright moreso than all the other politicians and he came with a positive message." The 41-year-old's political experience had been limited to playing the president in a TV show but he leapfrogged establishment candidates amid public frustration over corruption and a stalling economy. IMAGES and SOUNDBITES of Mykola Davydyuk, political analyst