With 94 percent of votes counted late on Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comic who plays a teacher-turned-president in a popular TV series, had won 30 percent. President Petro Poroshenko was trailing in a distant second with just under 16 percent, a hole that may be too deep to climb out from. In a field of 39 candidates, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko placed third with 13 percent.