A comedian with no political experience has won the most votes in the first round of Ukraine’s presidential elections, early results indicate.

With half the ballots counted, Volodymyr Zelenskiy – who plays the president on TV – got about 30%, with current leader Petro Poroshenko on 16%.

The two – who have expressed largely pro-EU opinions – are set to take part in a run-off election next month.

Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko appears to have been eliminated.

“I’m very happy but this is not the final action,” Mr Zelenskiy told the BBC’s Jonah Fisher, minutes after exit polls were announced.

Mr Poroshenko described his second-place showing as a “harsh lesson”.

Presidential election results

Latest as of 10:25, 1 April, Kiev time (BST +2). 61.15% of votes counted

WHOLE UKRAINE

Turnout: 63.45%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 30.38
Petro Poroshenko: 16.38
Yulia Tymoshenko: 13.08
Yuriy Boyko: 11.58
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 7.06
Ihor Smeshko: 5.92
Oleh Lyashko: 5.12

Lviv

Turnout: 68.9%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Petro Poroshenko: 36.89
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 18.77
Yulia Tymoshenko: 13.99
Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 11.83

Transcarpathia

Turnout: 47%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 39.86
Yulia Tymoshenko: 14.97
Petro Poroshenko: 10.84
Yuriy Boyko: 7.74
Oleh Lyashko: 6.32

Mykolayiv

Turnout: 60.2%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 41.38
Yuriy Boyko: 16.21
Yulia Tymoshenko: 9.5
Petro Poroshenko: 9.29
Oleh Lyashko: 6.66

Ivano-Frankivsk

Turnout: 61.85%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Petro Poroshenko: 21.94
Yulia Tymoshenko: 21.45
Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 15.92
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 15.55

Volyn

Turnout: 68.38%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 21.22
Petro Poroshenko: 19.69
Yulia Tymoshenko: 18.99
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 10
Oleh Lyashko: 8.59
Ihor Smeshko: 7.82

Rivne

Turnout: 64.94%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 23.34
Petro Poroshenko: 23.11
Yulia Tymoshenko: 15.63
Oleh Lyashko: 9.04
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 8.4
Ihor Smeshko: 6.27
Yuriy Boyko: 4.25

Ternopil

Turnout: 66.1%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Petro Poroshenko: 24.56
Yulia Tymoshenko: 18.86
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 16.68
Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 14.66
Oleh Lyashko: 7.65
Ihor Smeshko: 5.11

Vinnytsia

Turnout: 65.07%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 22.31
Petro Poroshenko: 21.82
Yulia Tymoshenko: 19.55
Oleh Lyashko: 9.98
Ihor Smeshko: 7.53
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 5.63

Dnipropetrovsk

Turnout: 65.95%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 45.14
Yuriy Boyko: 12.58

Donetsk

Turnout: 59.48%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Yuriy Boyko: 35.26
Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 25.21
Petro Poroshenko: 13.71

Zhytomyr

Turnout: 64.56%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 28.01
Yulia Tymoshenko: 17.04
Petro Poroshenko: 15.83
Ihor Smeshko: 9.12
Oleh Lyashko: 8.96
Yuriy Boyko: 7.21
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 5.82

Zaporizhzhya

Turnout: 64.37%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 39.57
Yuriy Boyko: 19.66

Kiev region

Turnout: 66.49%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 29.83
Yulia Tymoshenko: 18.51
Petro Poroshenko: 17.2
Ihor Smeshko: 8.65
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 6.76
Oleh Lyashko: 6.35
Yuriy Boyko: 5.27

Kirovohrad

Turnout: 61.96%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 34.94
Yulia Tymoshenko: 18.1
Petro Poroshenko: 11.47
Yuriy Boyko: 9.75
Oleh Lyashko: 7.8
Ihor Smeshko: 6.19

Luhansk

Turnout: 56.76%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Yuriy Boyko: 39.69
Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 26.12

Odesa

Turnout: 58.4%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 41.96
Yuriy Boyko: 21.71
Petro Poroshenko: 9.05
Yulia Tymoshenko: 7.58

Poltava

Turnout: 65.78%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 35.28
Yulia Tymoshenko: 16.19
Petro Poroshenko: 10.56
Yuriy Boyko: 9.76
Oleh Lyashko: 8.24
Ihor Smeshko: 7.01

Sumy

Turnout: 64.47%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 33.37
Yulia Tymoshenko: 15.5
Yuriy Boyko: 11.85
Petro Poroshenko: 10.75
Ihor Smeshko: 8.56
Oleh Lyashko: 7.03
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 5.46

Kharkiv

Turnout: 64.53%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 36.34
Yuriy Boyko: 26.62
Petro Poroshenko: 8.64

Kherson

Turnout: 57.65%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 37.38
Yuriy Boyko: 14.24
Petro Poroshenko: 12.3
Yulia Tymoshenko: 10.74
Oleh Lyashko: 5.58
Ihor Smeshko: 5.54

Khmelnytsky

Turnout: 65.08%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 23.85
Yulia Tymoshenko: 18.52
Petro Poroshenko: 16.56
Oleh Lyashko: 10.52
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 8.43
Ihor Smeshko: 7.38

Cherkasy

Turnout: 61.1%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 30.49
Yulia Tymoshenko: 16.49
Petro Poroshenko: 12.18
Ihor Smeshko: 9.92
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 9.42
Oleh Lyashko: 8.44
Yuriy Boyko: 5.48

Chernivtsi

Turnout: 56.07%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 30.81
Yulia Tymoshenko: 20
Petro Poroshenko: 14.38
Yuriy Boyko: 9.41
Oleh Lyashko: 6.77
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 5.14
Ihor Smeshko: 5.06

Chernihiv

Turnout: 65.36%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 25.94
Yulia Tymoshenko: 20.02
Oleh Lyashko: 12.84
Petro Poroshenko: 12.71
Ihor Smeshko: 8.33
Yuriy Boyko: 7
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 5.73

Kiev city

Turnout: 68.02%

Votes for each candidate (%):

Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 27.3
Petro Poroshenko: 25.31
Yulia Tymoshenko: 13.04
Ihor Smeshko: 9.65
Anatoliy Hrytsenko: 9.09
Yuriy Boyko: 6.16

The interior ministry says hundreds of electoral violations have been reported, but foreign observers say the vote appeared to be mainly smooth.

A total of 39 candidates were on the ballot paper. With none receiving more than 50%, the top two will go forward to the run-off on 21 April.

The Ukrainian president has significant powers over security, defence and foreign policy, in a system described as semi-presidential.