Vakarchuk is trying to tap into a growing anti-establishment mood in Ukraine – the same mood that brought TV comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy into the presidency in April with a landslide. The singer launched his own party, called Golos or Voice, in May and is touring the country ahead of the snap vote. Like Zelenskiy, he has cast himself as a change from traditional politics and an enemy of corruption and low living standards. President Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party – named after the TV comedy series where he plays a fictional president – is on course to win the July vote. If Ukraine becomes an economic success story, he tells Reuters, it will help convince people in Donbass and Crimea they are better off as part of Ukraine.

Source: National Post July 08, 2019 06:56 UTC