Thousands rally in Kiev in support of incumbent president

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday rallied his supporters in a last-ditch attempt to keep his job, as the Sunday presidential runoff looms.

Poroshenko who is trailing in opinion polls, called a rally of several thousand people in the capital Kiev ahead of a televised debate on Friday against his opponent, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy — who grew popular thanks to a television show where he plays the Ukrainian president. The debate at a football stadium will be the first time the opponents will face off in the highly competitive presidential campaign.

Poroshenko warned thousands of his supporters who gathered Friday afternoon at Maidan, the iconic square that was the heart of the 2014 opposition protests, that a victory for Zelenskiy would damage the country's closer economic and political cooperation with the European Union.

He also said Zelenskiy would be a weak president, to the benefit of Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has been bankrolling separatists in Ukraine's east.

"By no means do we think that our opponent is a Kremlin agent but (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is dreaming of a weak and ill-prepared novice," Poroshenko said in a hoarse voice. "Putin is dreaming of chaos."

The Ukrainian leader invoked Zelenskiy's background, saying that a five-year presidency is "not a comedy show that can be turned off."

Lyudmila Soloveyko, a 56-year-old schoolteacher who went to the rally said on Friday that she is grateful to Poroshenko for "opening the door to Europe for Ukrainians," referring to a Poroshenko-lobbied decision by the EU to scrap visas for Ukrainians, and said that she is afraid that "this door will shut again."

At the end of the rally, Poroshenko's supporters went on a march to the stadium where the much-anticipated debate would be held in the evening.

Zelenskiy has eschewed a traditional campaign, touring the country with his comedy show instead. In his rare interviews he has voiced support for close ties with the EU and NATO but also spoke for more active efforts to re-integrate the rebel east back in Ukraine's fold.