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Home , Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Elections in Ukraine, Ihor Shevchenko, Ihor Smeshko, Inna Bohoslovska, Oleksandr Vilkul

VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND DIPLOMACY PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

Sofiia Podolianchuk

HOW INDEPENDENT IS THE UKRAINIAN MEDIA? 2019 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Final Master Thesis

Journalism and Media Industries Study Program, state code 621P50002 Degree in Journalism

Supervisor Prof. dr Robert van Voren (signature) (date)

Defended Prof. dr. Šarūnas Liekis (signature) (date)

Kaunas, 2020 CONTENTS

SUMMARY ...... 3

SANTRAUKA ...... 4

INTRODUCTION...... 5

1. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS ...... 7

1.1. General Election Information (election history) ...... 7 1.1.1. Presidential Candidates in 2019 ...... 13

1.2. The way to the political tower ...... 19 1.2.1. Pre-election campaign ...... 19 1.2.2. Election campaign ...... 25

1.3. The influence of the media ...... 30 1.3.1. The place of propaganda in the media ...... 31 1.3.2. Independence in the Ukrainian media ...... 32

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...... 37

2.1. Qualitative research approach ...... 37

2.2. Sample and organization of interviews ...... 37

2.3. Research instrument...... 39

3. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS ...... 40

3.1. The problem of choice ...... 40

3.2. Independence for ...... 41

3.3. The attitude of Ukrainians towards the media ...... 44

3.4. Servant of the people…………………………………………………………………...…45

CONCLUSIONS ...... 48

REFERENCES ...... 50

ANNEX 1 ...... 52

ABBREVIATIONS ...... 2

1 ABBREVIATIONS

SDPU - The Social Democratic Party of VR - The of Ukraine CEC - The Central Election Commission of Ukraine UKROP - Ukrainian Association of Patriots BRT - Concern broadcasting, radio and television

2 Podolianchuk S., 2019: how independent is the Ukrainian media?, Supervisor prof. Robert van Voren, Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, Public Communications Department. Kaunas, 2020,

SUMMARY

Democracy has its old faces and today, at the end of the twentieth century, when Ukraine again manages to rise as an independent state, it can not embody its independence in that free form, it fought at the beginning of the century. Today, it develops a social, legal state, forms an open civil society, reforms economic relations in the direction of the market, creates a political nation. A unique role in this process is played by elections, which are a form of direct democracy. At the same time, during the elections, the political struggle, permanently and somewhat covertly, actually goes between the representatives of various social groups, spilling out. Our research applies the qualitative approach, following the case study method. As a method of collecting information, we chose an interview. For our interviews, eleven respondents were chosen randomly. In our research, we base only on the information provided by our respondents. According to them, we are able to finalize that not everyone was able to make an independent choice. Someone was influenced by the media, someone by pressure from other forces. People faced the problem of choice. The problem was a large number of presidential candidates. Also, the campaign of 2019 can be called the most populist in political struggles of all time.

Keywords: elections, pre-election campaign, election campaign, influence, media.

3 Podolianchuk S., 2019 Rinkimai Ukrainoje: kiek nepriklausoma yra Ukrainos žiniasklaida?, / darbo vadovė Prof. Robert van Voren, Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas, Politikos mokslų ir diplomatijos fakultetas , Viešųjų ryšių departamentas. Kaunas, 2020,

SANTRAUKA

Demokratija turi senus veidus ir šiandien, XX a. Pabaigoje, kai Ukraina vėl sugeba pakilti kaip savarankiška valstybė, ji negali įkūnyti savo nepriklausomybės šioje laisvoje formoje, ji kovojo amžiaus pradžioje. Šiandien ji vysto socialinę, teisinę valstybę, sudaro atvirą pilietinę visuomenę, reformuoja ekonominius santykius rinkos kryptimi, kuria politinę tautą. Unikalus vaidmuo šiame procese atliekamas rinkimuose, kurie yra tiesioginės demokratijos forma. Tuo pačiu metu, rinkimų metu, nuolatinė ir šiek tiek slapta politinė kova vyksta tarp įvairių socialinių grupių atstovų. Mūsų tyrime vadovaujamasi kokybiniu požiūriu, atsižvelgiant į atvejo analizės metodą. Kaip informacijos rinkimo metodas pasirinkome interviu. Mūsų interviu metu vienuolika respondentų buvo atrinkti atsitiktinai. Mūsų tyrime remiamasi tik mūsų respondentų pateikta informacija. Pasak jų, galime užbaigti, kad ne kiekvienas galėtų savarankiškai pasirinkti. Kažką įtakojo žiniasklaida, kas nors iš kitų jėgų spaudimo. Žmonės susiduria su pasirinkta problema. Problema buvo daug prezidento kandidatų. Be to, 2019 m. Kampanija gali būti vadinama populistine visų laikų politine kova.

Raktiniai žodžiai: rinkimai, priešrinkiminė kampanija, rinkimų kampanija, įtaka, žiniasklaida.

4 INTRODUCTION

The relevance of the research problem. The media have different possibilities of influence, depending primarily on how the recipients perceive them. The most massive and most substantial political power is exerted by the audiovisual media, mainly radio and television. Media has practically made the existence of many democratic and totalitarian ideas that seemed earlier utopian, significantly changed the ways of legitimizing and exercising power, the structure of its resources. Therefore, it is not surprising that the authorities' attempts to carry out mass manipulations are carried out thanks to the mass media. The presence of a powerful information resource allows you to come to power, as well as to retain and legitimize your rule. In modern society, the media are increasingly becoming not only a necessary communication element in the complex mechanism of politics but also its creator. In my opinion, it will be quite essential to show the attitude of the media towards "the electoral race" and highlight the 2019 elections in Ukraine. Research problem. Ukraine is entering a new stage in history. There are a sufficient number of scientific papers on the elections as a whole, but so far no one has investigated the elections and the election campaign at the moment. In my opinion, it is important to convey to people that media coverage of political campaigns is not always true. I would like to analyze the candidates, their possibilities and how this is all shown in the media. What is the role of political propaganda and how independent are the media and inappropriate in their conclusions? So, our research aim is to highlight the election process in Ukraine. We intend to reveal and explore the features of the campaign 2019 and people's opinions about politics and media. This aim requires the investigation of such research questions:  Why the political campaign 2019 is special?  Why is there a problem of choice?  What is independence for Ukrainians? The object of the research is the presidential elections in Ukraine 2019. Media coverage. The subjects of the study are the features of the presidential election campaign, media sources. The main tasks of this work are: – explore the political and legal conditions of the presidential pre-election and election campaign; – evaluate the truthfulness of the media;

5 – make structural analysis; – to explore the opinions of people about the political situation in Ukraine; – to explore the opinions of people about the media coverage of the elections;

Research methods. The study is based on the use of Qualitative research approach. Structure of the thesis. The first chapter describes the main points of the elections and campaign. Also, it depicts media as a political tool. Next section describes people’s attitudes towards the political situation during presidential elections 2019.

6 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

1.1. General Election Information (election history)

Elections were used in ancient Athens, in Rome, and in the selection of popes and Holy Roman emperors. The origins of elections in the contemporary world lie in the gradual emergence of representative government in Europe and North America beginning in the 17th century (Gibbins et all, 2015). The history of state and legal development in the territory of modern Ukraine dates back to the middle of the first millennium BC when the first state formations appeared among the peoples and tribes of the Northern region. The information about the main ethnic groups living in these territories was provided by the Greek historian Herodotus (V century BC. E.). In the 7th century BC, living in the territory of modern Ukraine formed a powerful tribal alliance. The organization of administration in the form of military democracy corresponded to the development stage reached by the Scythians. At the meeting of soldiers, the most important issues were considered. The significant influence had the councils of the tribal elders. However, a unique role in the alliance belonged to military leaders – the "kings", who led the Scythian army during the campaigns. The power of "kings" was inherited, but the people's assembly approved the candidacies of the "king" and his successor (Ivanov, 2007). The electoral foundations were inherent in the Ukrainian Cossacks from its very beginning in the 16th century. The Cossacks who settled in the Sich were called "Zaporozhtsy", and their entire camp was called "Kosh". The highest body of administration in the Zaporozhian Host was the Sich Rada (council). The council was the highest legislative, administrative, and judicial body of the Zaporozhian Host (Ivanov, 2007). In the 17th century, being in vassal dependence on Moscow, Ukraine, according to D. Doroshenko, had internal autonomy. "The Cossack Ukrainian state had its own separate , the hetman, who was elected by the Ukrainians, had its own army, its finances, its own administrative and judicial system and its laws" (Doroshenko, 1992). Furthermore, the Cossacks elected leaders of other levels. Cossacks and ordinary officials, and especially colonels, had to be elected by free will and voting. After the elections, they were approved by the Hetman government. At the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, written under the considerable influence of the ideas of Western European parliamentarism, the basic principles of the republican form of the government were laid. According to the sixth paragraph of this document, the legislative power 7 belongs to the Council (Slyusarenko, 1997). The Council ceased to exist in 1764 with the installation of the Little Russian Collegium in the government of Tsarist . Electoral traditions in Ukraine formed under the significant influence of neighbouring states. A significant contribution to the development of electoral culture was the election which took place in during the domination of Austria and . 1861 , which was one of the Austrian provinces, received the right to choose its regional legislative body of local government – the Galician Sejm. This representative body consisted of curias in which deputies were elected separately from each segment of the population. According to some researchers, although there were elected bodies of the regional (Sejm) and local government, they did not play any serious role. The Austrian authorities transferred administrative functions to the Polish magnates and the administration. The governors since 1850 were exclusively Poles (Tyshchyk, 2004). Therefore, the right to vote there was not yet universal and equal. Only in 1907 in Austria, as V. Kulchitsky and B. Tyschyk note, universal suffrage was introduced, but women, military and young people under 24 years did not receive the right to elect. Besides, it continued to provide the privileges of the German ruling circles. Thus, the Germans elected one deputy from 40,000 people, the Poles from 52 thousand, the Czechs from 60 000, and the Ukrainians from 102 thousand (Tyshchyk, 1996). It should be noted that it was the Ukrainian Galician struggle against the injustice of the , built on the property qualification that contributed to changes in the electoral legislation of Austria. During the time of the West Ukrainian People's Republic, in April 1919, a new electoral law was adopted. The unicameral Sejm was elected according to the national proportional system. For each nationality, depending on the number of population, a certain number of representatives were identified. This guaranteed all national minorities, regardless of the vicissitudes of the election campaign, to have their representatives (deputies) in parliament. During the occupational period of Western Ukraine by Poland (1919 – 1939), elections to the Polish Sejm were held there several times: in 1922, 1928, and 1930. Historians comment that the main thing in these elections was not the nomination of representatives by the population, but the authorities' desire, through the participation of Ukrainians in the elections, to demonstrate the fact of their statehood in Poland. On March 3, 1917 (old style) the Central Council of Ukraine was founded in that united the political, public, cultural, and professional organizations of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Already in June, the Central Council of Ukraine had 568 members and was recognized not only as an institution of representation of various political parties but also as an institution with legislative powers. 8 The Central Council of Ukraine proclaimed the formation of the Ukrainian People's Republic with its III Universal, made a decision on the election of the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly, and on April 29, 1917, chose Mihail Hrushevskiy as the President of the UPR and approved the Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic (Charter on state structure, law, and liberty of the UPR), which is considered the first . This document took into account one of the main principles of Western democracy: the separation of powers. Legislative power was exercised by the National Assembly, which was elected by public vote. The Verkhovna Rada and the Council of other levels that were representative bodies at the time of the USSR had a very limited and humiliated role, as they were part of the social system, determined not by legislation, but mainly by party-state practice and the general level of political culture of the society. Election practice during the USSR was transformed into an almost ritual procedure for compulsory assurance by citizens of a loyal attitude to the system. The deputy corps consisted of representatives of the nomenclature and those who were selected according to the distribution list, which seemed to reflect the class, party, national, professional, sex proportions of the population. Representation replaced compliance with some personal data. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Soviets invariably approved all the decisions that proposed, and the voters could not have an impact on the decisions of their representative as well as the deputy on the actions of some of the ministers. The development and reformation of the electoral system in Ukraine in the 80-90s of the twentieth century and to this day went through several basic stages. In the late 80s in the USSR and Ukraine, the development of the Soviet model of representative democracy was based on the processes of interconnected reforming the structure of representative bodies of state power at all levels and the system of organizing elections (electoral system). The main directions of constitutional and legislative reformation of the system of organization and conduction of elections in the conditions of the existence of the former Soviet system (the late 80s – early 90s), which took place in the framework of peaceful, non-violent political and legal development, include: 1. Reforming the structure of representative and executive bodies of state power and the system of organizing elections within the framework and based on the mechanism for amending and supplementing the Constitution of Ukraine. In March 1990, elections were held in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The Soviet principle of reserving seats for officially recognized political associations was removed from the Electoral Law. 2. The abolition of a fixed constitutional monopoly of one party on the formation of all representative bodies. In accordance with the changes and additions made to the Constitution of Ukraine on October 24, 1990, a multi-party system was introduced for the 9 first time and it was established that political parties "through their representatives elected to the Councils of People's Deputies and in other forms participate in the development and implementation of the republic's policy and management state and public affairs on the basis of their programs and charters in accordance with the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR and the laws in force" (the Constitution (Basic Law) of the Ukrainian SSR) 3. Extending electoral mechanisms to executive institutions (Election of the President of the Ukrainian SSR) (Law of the USSR, 1991) In the process of reorganizing the electoral system, various options were used to combine the mechanisms of formation of representative bodies in close cooperation with the development of a multiparty system. One of the main practical results of the election campaigns of the 90s was the emergence and legal registration of parties, social and political movements and their electoral associations. Elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which took place in March 1994, were held under the new law adopted at the 8th session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 12th convocation on November 18, 1993. This law, like the previous one, met international standards for democratic elections. Many of the provisions had a pronounced democratic character. These, in particular, are the following:  the law provides the right to elect to all citizens who have reached the age of 18. "A citizen of Ukraine who has the right to vote, not less than 25 years old on election day, permanently residing in the territory of Ukraine for at least the last two years, may be elected as a deputy" (The "On Elections of People's Deputies of Ukraine"). This right does not depend on the social and property status of citizens, race, nationality, gender, education, religion or profession;  stipulates the principle "one voter – one vote";  law provides voters with the secrecy of voting and the inadmissibility of control or restriction of their freedom detected by voting;  an important point is the openness of the process of preparing and holding elections, directly due to the law. Candidate representatives and public observers have the right to attend all stages of the electoral process, including the counting of votes, reports of results, registration of candidates and fees of election commissions. The same right is given to the media;  by law, important election information has to be spread through the media. This information should be published in Ukrainian, Russian, and "other languages of the country's population". This ensures control over the national dissemination of 10 information about members of election commissions of all levels, candidates, location of polling stations and the dates of elections;  individual provisions of the law provide the creation of polling stations in hospitals, other institutions, on ships and, if necessary, for citizens who are abroad. According to this law, there were 450 electoral districts in Ukraine, in which elected one deputy. A double scheme determined the effect of elections in each district. Elections were considered invalid if: a) an absolute majority of voters in the district did not participate; b) an absolute majority of the voters who took part in the voting did not vote for one of the candidates. In any of these cases, the seat in parliament remained vacant until the special election. It is clear that the existing norms have led to the fact that parliamentary elections in many districts were unsuccessful. With the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine in June 1996, a qualitatively new stage in the reform of the electoral system began. The Constitution defined free elections as the fundamental principle of organizing state power, and the people as a political community, as the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in Ukraine. For the first time, the Constitution reflected the political and legal status of a citizen of Ukraine as a subject of the electoral process. Democratic constitutional elections and a referendum for the first time in the political practice of the development and functioning of Ukrainian statehood laid the foundation for public- law relations between civil society and the state. Elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which took place in March 1998, were held under the new law "On elections of people's deputies of Ukraine (The Law of Ukraine about the Election of People's Deputies of Ukraine). People's deputies were elected by the citizens of Ukraine based on universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret in a mixed (majority-proportional) system. This was a step forward in the formation of a multiparty system in the country. The law contains new provisions and significantly expands the possibilities not only for candidates but also for voters. The next stage of reforming electoral legislation began with the adoption on March 5, 1999, of the Law of Ukraine "On the Election of the ". Thus, the law directly enshrines the voluntary participation of citizens in elections, refuses the institute of suspension of current electoral law (for persons in places of deprivation of liberty) and limits the right to vote only for persons recognized by the court as incapable. About the main subject of passive electoral rights of candidates for the presidential candidate of Ukraine, a restriction has been introduced: they cannot be citizens held in places of deprivation of liberty nor have a criminal record for committing an intentional crime if this criminal record is not paid off. The right to self-

11 nomination of citizens as candidates at a meeting of voters was granted (The Constitution of Ukraine). To obtain the status of a presidential candidate, the support of at least one million voters is necessary, provided that at least 30,000 citizens provide support in each of 2/3 regions of the country (according to the law of 1994). However, despite the carefully written legal status of all subjects and participants of the election campaign, the electoral practice and electoral technologies that used, indicate the need to improve the legislation on the election of the President of Ukraine. From January 18 to October 18, 2001, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law "On the Election of People's Deputies of Ukraine" five times, and the President imposed a veto on it four times, and only the last version was signed. The main points of principle around which the political struggle was going on are the type of electoral system, according to which parliamentary elections should be held, the duration of the election campaign, the procedure for forming election commissions. Thus, according to the new Law of Ukraine "On elections of people's deputies of Ukraine", there remained a mixed majority-proportional electoral system of 50/50, the duration of the election campaign was 90 days, representatives of district electoral commissions had to be included. Other parties are included in the commission by drawing lots. The composition of the precinct election commission necessarily includes one party representative. So, summarizing up this chapter we need to say that we see that the process of generation and formation of elections is very long and complicated. The electoral system is a set of rules, techniques and processes that ensure and regulate the legitimate formation of state representative bodies of political power. In each country, the electoral system operates on the basis of legislation, details the basic provisions of this system, enshrined in the country's constitution. In modern Ukraine, half of the deputies are elected by proportional, and the second by the majority system. The essence of the mixed system is that a certain part of the deputy mandates is distributed in accordance with the principles of the majority system. The other part of the mandates is distributed in accordance with the principles of the proportional electoral system. Given that in order to increase the efficiency of public administration in Ukraine, it is extremely important to have a stable government supported by a parliamentary majority, it is possible to predict further modernization of the electoral system in the direction of determining its optimal model. In reality, everything will depend on the real arrangement of political forces.

12 1.1.1. Presidential Candidates in 2019 Presidential elections in 2019 set a record for the number of presidential candidates. Before that, 2004 was a record year when 26 people fought for the presidency. The final list of bidders for the presidential elections in Ukraine in 2019 contained 39 names. At first, the commission registered 44 people, and the Central Election Commission refused 47 more candidates. According to the public network "OPORA" (OPORA, 2019):

 The number of candidates: 39. Among them, 35 are men and 4 are women. In total, 91 applicants filed documents.  The average age of candidates is 50 years old. In the age group of 35-45 years old, 12 candidates are registered, 45-60 years old – 20 candidates, more than 60 – 7.  Belonging to the party. The party nominates nineteen candidates, and 20 are self-nominated candidates. At the same time, 23 of them are party members, 16 are not members of any political force.  Where do the candidates work? Fourteen candidates are deputies. One candidate, Yulia Litvinenko, is unemployed; another candidate, , is not indicated. List of candidates: 1. – self-nominee, non-party. 48 years old, lawyer, ex- minister of ecology. President of the charitable organization "Successful Ukraine". 2. Vitaliy Skotsyk – self-nominee, non-party. 47 years old, economist, ex-chairman of the Agrarian Party of Ukraine. Professor of Horse Breeding and Beekeeping at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. 3. – candidate from the party "Social-political movement Valentyna Nalyvaichenko", "Justice". 52 years old, former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, the leader of the party "Justice". 4. Serhiy Kaplin – candidate from the Social Democratic Party. 39 years old, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 5. – candidate from the party "". 61, Associate Professor of Department of Political Science, National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy", former Minister of Defense of Ukraine (2005 – 2007). 6. Vitaly Kupriy – self-nominee, non-party. 45 years old, deputy of Ukraine, deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee of Ukraine on legislative support of law enforcement.

13 7. – self-nominee. 51 years old, deputy of Ukraine from the Bloc party, chairman of the parliamentary health committee. The politician is also an Honored Doctor of Ukraine and a singer. 8. Hennadiy Balashov – candidate from the party "5.10". 57 years old. Ukrainian entrepreneur, blogger, politician and public figure, party leader "5.10". 9. Olexandr Shevchenko – candidate from the party "UKROP". 47 years old, non-fractional deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation. 10. Roman Nasirov – self-nominee. 39 years old, ex-deputy, since May 2015 – Chairman of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine. In January 2018, the Cabinet dismissed him from this position, but Nasirov appealed this decision in court. 11. – self-nominee. 60 years. People's Deputy of Ukraine, a member of the Party. His candidacy is supported by political force "Opposition Platform – For Life," which he leads along with . Former Minister of Energy and Coal Industry (2010-2012) and Deputy Prime Minister (2012- 2014). 12. – candidate from the party "Batkivshchyna", 58 years old. People's Deputy of Ukraine since 1997. She was Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005 and 2007- 2010. Running for president for the third time. 13. – candidate of the party "Radical Party", 46 years old. Ukrainian politician, people's deputy of Ukraine, former journalist. The leader of the "Radical Party". 14. – candidate from the party "The Opposition Bloc is the Party of Peace and Development", 44 years old. Ukrainian politician, member of the Opposition Bloc Party (formerly the ). 15. Arkadiy Kornatskiy – self-nominee, 65 years old (faction "Petro Poroshenko Bloc"). Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur. 16. – candidate of the Socialist Party, 74 years old. Ukrainian politician and public figure. He was chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 1994 – 1998 and 2006 – 2007. 17. Ilya Kiva – candidate of the party "Socialist Party of Ukraine", 41 years old. He was an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the head of the department for combating drug crimes of the National Police of Ukraine. Leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine. 18. Ruslan Koshulynskyi – candidate from the All-Ukrainian Association "Freedom", 49 years old. Ukrainian politician, people's deputy of Ukraine of the VII convocation and deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (VII convocation). His candidacy was

14 supported by the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, the , the C14 Movement, and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. 19. Oleksandr Danyliuk – self-nominee, 37 years old. Member of the Civil Movement “Common Cause” party. Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Valery Geletey on a voluntary basis from July 15 to November 5, 2014. 20. – candidate from the party "Basis", 63 years old. People's Deputy of Ukraine, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Industrial Union of Donbass company. In 2014, he was the head of the Regional State Administration. 21. – candidate from the party "Servant of the People". 41 years old. Ukrainian politician, showman, actor, screenwriter, producer and director of "Kvartal 95 Studio". 22. – self-nominee, 58 years old. Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur, ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, ex-chairman of the political party "Veche" and former member of the Party of Regions. 23. – self-nominee, 63 years. Ukrainian military, political and public figure, Chairman of the Committee on Intelligence under the President of Ukraine (since 2014), Advisor to the President, Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine (in 2003 – 2005). 24. Haber Nikolai – self-nominee. 58 years old. Ukrainian politician of Bulgarian origin, Ph.D. in Biology, Assistant to the People's Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Andrei Reka. He is a member of the "Patriotic Party of Ukraine". 25. Yuriy Derevyanko – candidate from the party "Volya". 45 years. Ukrainian politician, entrepreneur and people's deputy of Ukraine. 26. – self-nominee. 53 years old. Former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, former representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral Negotiating Group in Minsk, professor at the Kiev National University of Culture and Arts. 27. – candidate from the party "". Entrepreneur, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, former Minister of Transport and Communications of Ukraine (2005 – 2006) and former chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk state administration (from 2007 to 2010). 28. Ruslan Rigovanov – self-nominee, non-party. 45 years. He performs the duties of the head of the state enterprise "Sevastopol Sea Fishing Port". 29. Nosenko Sergei – self-nominee, non-party. 50 years. Managing Director of International Investment Partners Ukraine.

15 30. Viktor Krivenko – candidate from the party "People's Rukh of Ukraine". 37 years. The deputy of the VIII convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of the "Self-Reliance Party", then in the BPP faction, while it is out of fractional. From May 2017 – Chairman of the People’s Rukh of Ukraine Party. 31. Andrew Novak – candidate from the party "Patriot". 46 years old. Ukrainian economist, political scientist, public figure. Candidate of Economic Sciences. He worked as a consultant at the committees of the Verkhovna Rada and an assistant to the people's deputy, was an adviser to two prime ministers of Ukraine. 32. Vasily Zhuravlev – candidate from the party "Stability". Party Chairman and President of the Football Federation. 33. Yuriy Tymoshenko – self-nominee. 57 years old. The soldier of the National Guard, the people's deputy of Ukraine, was nominated by the People’s Front to the Verkhovna Rada, but in January 2019 the political force expelled the parliamentarian from his faction. Now he does not belong to any of the factions. 34. Petro Poroshenko – self-nominee, 53 years old. Ukrainian politician, statesman, fifth president of Ukraine, entrepreneur and oligarch. 35. Yurii Karmazin – self-nominee, 61 year. Ukrainian politician, judge, people's deputy of Ukraine of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th convocation, chairman of the political Motherland Defenders Party. 36. Yulia Lytvynenko – self-nominee, 42 years old. Ukrainian TV presenter, general producer of the Vesti FM radio station. 37. Oleksandr Vashchenko – self-nominee, 56 years old. The head of the public organization "Power of the People". 38. Volodymyr Petrov – self-nominee. Blogger and journalist. Suspect in the case of alleged harassment of student KPI Natalia Bureyko. He is now under house arrest. 39. Alexander Soloviev – promoter from the party "Smart Power". 45 years. The leader of the party "Smart Power", the former head of the Department of Economic Protection of the National Police of Ukraine. I want to pay attention to three leading candidates, whose way to political success was remarkably notable. The first one is Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko. Political activity He began his career as a politician from joining the SDPU. In 2000, Poroshenko created his party, 'Solidarity'. He is also related to the creation of the "Party of Regions". In 2002,

16 Poroshenko became a member of the "Our Ukraine" opposition faction and later led 's election campaign. By the way, Poroshenko and Yushchenko are connected not only by politics; they are godfathers: Yushchenko is a godfather of Poroshenko's daughter. In the elections to the Rada 2002, 'Our Ukraine' won a majority in parliament, and Poroshenko headed the budget committee. In February 2005, Poroshenko was appointed a secretary to the National Security Council of Ukraine, but in September he was dismissed. At the same time, President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed the Cabinet. In 2007, he took the post of Chairman of the Council of the , and two years later, in October 2009, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs. March 23, 2012, President appointed Poroshenko as Minister of Economy and Trade of Ukraine. He took part in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada of the 7th convocation from the Vinnitsa district – gained more than 70% of the votes and headed the Committee on European Integration. In 2013–2014 he was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity. The policy was appointed by the representative of the Ukrainian authorities in negotiations with the deputies of the Supreme Council of , who were planned in Simferopol. However, Poroshenko was not allowed to picket to the parliament building. After the removal of Viktor Yanukovych from the power in the presidential elections on May 25, 2014, Poroshenko won a victory in one ballot (gained 54.7% of the votes). The inauguration of the president was held on June 7, 2014. Poroshenko indicated the main goals as president: the preservation of the territorial integrity of the state and the return of the Crimea to Ukraine; obtaining a visa with the countries of Europe and joining the EU; military reform to meet NATO standards. Among the list of promises, only one was fulfilled (Bloc Petro Poroshenko "Solidarnist" the official site). Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko Political activity Tymoshenko began her political career by becoming a people's deputy in Ukraine in 1997. At that time, she was non-party. In Parliament, she became a member of the Finance and Banking Committee. Subsequently, she became the first deputy of the "Gromada" party chairman Pavel Lazarenko. In 1998, Tymoshenko for the second time became the people's deputy from the All- Ukrainian Association "Gromada". In the Parliament was the chairman of the budget committee. In 1999, she organized the deputy faction "Batkivshchyna" in the Rada. She was one of the founders of the party "Batkivshchyna", created later. A few months later, Tymoshenko was elected chairman of the party.

17 After that, she became deputy prime minister for the fuel and energy complex in the government of then-prime minister Viktor Yushchenko. During the period of work of Tymoshenko at this position, barter settlements in the region were liquidated, and a single settlement centre of the Wholesale Electricity Market was established, the state-owned enterprise "Energorynok". The level of payments for energy carriers was also significantly raised, and additional funds were attracted to the state budget. Thanks to this, the blackouts of light in Ukraine ceased (when the Ukrainian light was turned off every day for a few hours in the houses). Anti-crisis measures and reforms in the fuel and energy complex organized by a politician affected the interests of President Kuchma’s entourage and ran into opposition. In 2000, Tymoshenko’s husband and the head of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine corporation was detained and arrested. Also, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine opened 2 cases against Tymoshenko herself as the ex-president of the corporation for tax evasion on an unusually large scale. The police appointed a preventive measure in the form of a subscription on his recognizance. In 2001, then-President dismissed Tymoshenko. Therefore, the politician initiated the creation of the National Salvation Forum, a free association that aimed to remove the Kuchma regime from power. At that time, Tymoshenko was arrested for embezzlement billion dollars intended to pay for Russian gas. However, the court subsequently cancelled the arrest warrant for Tymoshenko. About the arrest of Tymoshenko’s husband, he was released from custody in 2001. After two years, the court declared illegal and reversed the decision to institute criminal proceedings against the spouses of Tymoshenko. Production in all criminal cases was closed. In 2001, the was created, which was held in parliament in the 2002 elections. In the same year, Tymoshenko, together with other oppositionists, led the rally "Rise, Ukraine!", aimed at resisting the Kuchma regime. In 2004, Nasha Ukraina Party, under the leadership of Yushchenko and BYuT, formed the Power of the People coalition. Then Yushchenko promised to appoint Tymoshenko Prime Minister in the event of his victory in the presidential election. As a result of voting in the 2004 presidential election, Yushchenko and Yanukovych entered the second round. When it became clear that the elections were rigged, the opposition called on people to protest nationwide. Thus began mass protests in all cities of Ukraine, the largest of which was on the Independence Square in Kiev, which received the name "". Tymoshenko became one of the leaders of mass protests against falsification of presidential elections, often spoke at the Maidan, led by columns of demonstrators. After Yushchenko's victory in the presidential election, Yulia Tymoshenko is facing golden times. She becomes the first

18 female prime minister in the entire history of the country's independence. Her popularity is growing abroad: the American magazine Forbes calls Tymoshenko the third most influential woman in the world. However, Tymoshenko's political take-off did not last long: as early as September 2005, the Tymoshenko government dismissed the government because of an internal conflict between branches of power. In the 2006 elections to the Verkhovna Rada, BYuT overtakes the "Party of Regions", gaining more than 22% of the vote. The Orange Coalition again occupies a majority in parliament, and Tymoshenko becomes the country's leading opposition figure. After the early parliamentary elections in 2007, Tymoshenko again heads the Cabinet, signing, among other things, a scandalous gas agreement with Gazprom. In early 2010, Yulia Vladimirovna loses presidential elections to Yanukovych, after which VR sends her government to resign, and several criminal cases are initiated against her. In February 2014, after the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych, Timoshenko returned to big politics. (official site of Yulia Tymoshenko) Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky Political activity December 1, 2017, in Ukraine, registered a new party "Servant of the People". According to the analytical system YouControl, Bakanov Ivan, who has been a lawyer of production company "Kvartal 95" since 2013, has become its head. Zelensky himself then asserted that it was "not a political project yet, but a legal nuance" that it was necessary to outrun strangers to him, who in the summer of 2017 wanted to use "Kvartal 95" brand and register such political force. On December 31, 2018, Zelensky announced that he was going to the presidential elections in Ukraine in 2019 just one minute before the New Year (official site of Volodymyr Zelensky).

1.2. The way to the political tower

1.2.1. Pre-election campaign What is the pre-election campaign? The pre-election campaign is a set of measures carried out by an electoral subject/candidate for electoral subject aimed at running in and winning elections (International Society for fair elections and democracy, 2016). According to the law on the election of the President of Ukraine, the election campaign begins for each presidential candidate on the next day after his registration with the CEC and ends at 24:00 on the last Friday before election day. 19 If the first round of elections does not determine the undisputed leader of the presidential race, the election campaign can be continued before the second round of voting. In the pre-election campaign, in addition to the presidential candidates and their parties, support groups from among the voters, public organizations, the media can also participate. In general, everyone who cares about the elections. The fact is that the law on the presidential elections in Ukraine does not spell out the circle of participants in the election campaign. It mentions only a few general restrictions on the implementation of election campaigning. In particular, participation in the election campaign is prohibited (The Law about the election of the President of Ukraine ):  persons who are not citizens of Ukraine;  the executive authorities, the authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and local self-government, as well as law enforcement agencies and courts, their officials and officers during working hours (except when the person concerned is a candidate for the presidency of Ukraine);  members of election commissions in the performance of duties of members of election commissions for the period of the exercise of authority. The law on the presidential elections in Ukraine spelt out the following actions during the election campaign (The Law about the election of the President of Ukraine ): – holding a meeting of citizens or any other meetings with voters; – holding rallies, processions, demonstrations, pickets; – holding public debates, discussions, round tables, press conferences on the provisions of electoral programs and political activities of parties - subjects of the electoral process or political activities of candidates for the presidency of Ukraine; – promulgation of political advertising, speeches, interviews, essays, video films, audio and video clips, other publications and messages in print and audiovisual (electronic) mass media; – distribution of election cards, posters and other printed campaign materials or printed publications in which materials of election campaigning are posted; – printed campaign materials or political advertising on outdoor advertising media; – holding concerts, performances, sports competitions, film and TV shows or other public events with the support of the party - the subject of the electoral process or

20 candidate for the presidency of Ukraine, as well as the publication of information about such support; – public calls to vote for or not to vote for a candidate for the presidency of Ukraine, or public appraisal of a candidate for the presidency of Ukraine; – establishment of campaign tents. We want to focus your attention on the three leading candidates and their election campaigns.

Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko The election program of the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, who was going to fight for a second term, was aimed at improving the work done in five years. Among the directions were: strengthening the economy, the return of the occupied territories, the fight against poverty and the entry into the EU and NATO. Key points: 1. Apply for EU membership in 2023 and begin implementing the NATO Membership Plan. 2. Restore the standard of living and begin the fight against poverty, making Ukraine one of the leaders of the agrarian and IT sectors, the transport hub of Eastern Europe and one of the most visited European countries. 3. To continue work on the restoration of territorial integrity and the return of the occupied territories by political and diplomatic means. 4. To continue the policy of decentralization, which would ensure the qualitative progress of the entire economy of the country. 5. To continue the policy of reducing the tax burden. 6. To direct investment in education to increase wages and qualifications of teachers. 7. Strengthen investment attraction for the export of products with high added value (bloc Petro Poroshenko ‘Solidarnist’ the official site).

Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko The program of the former prime minister and leader of 'the Batkivshchyna' party, Yulia Tymoshenko, was called the 'New Course of Ukraine'. It included five areas: peace and security strategy, people's Constitution, economic strategy, social doctrine and youth policy. Key points were:

21 1. Return the occupied territories by military diplomacy, strengthening the army and conducting a complete modernization of the according to NATO standards. 2. Inventory of the damage caused by Russia so that the aggressor country compensates for the damage and incurs legal liability. 3. Eliminate the clan-oligarchic system, as well as reduce the number of deputies from 450 to 350. 4. To allow people to hold a referendum, elect judges, central and local authorities, and allow communities to dispose of the land altogether. 5. To develop renewable energy, its coal industry, to demonopolize gas imports. 6. To bring salaries to the European level, and allow pension contributions to be made to a personal account during the entire period of work, so that interest accrued on the amount. 7. Reduce gas prices by two times, in connection with which tariffs for heat and hot water will be reduced. 8. Create new jobs with subsequent employment of young people. 9. Create a long-term banking microcredit program for youth and middle class for all types of business (official site of Yulia Tymoshenko).

Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky The showman and the founder of Studio "Kvartal 95", Volodymyr Zelensky, used the slogan ‘Ze!President’. The ideological basis of the election program Zelensky was democracy. Key points were: 1. Adopt a bill "On democracy". Ukrainians would form tasks for power through referendums. 2. Adopt bills "On the withdrawal of immunity from the President of Ukraine, people's deputies and judges"; "On the impeachment of the President of Ukraine"; "On the recall of the people's deputy of Ukraine". 3. Replace the income tax with a tax on the withdrawn capital. 4. Introduce a one-time "zero declaration" for business, in which a 5% businessman would be able to declare and legalize income. 5. Display all information about the use of budgets, tenders, procurement in the public plane.

22 6. Zero tolerance to corruption at all levels: no one would come for bail, the convict would lose everything. 7. State transition to its energy resources (official site of Volodymyr Zelensky )

It's important to mention the phenomenon such as "negative campaigning" or "mudslinging". For example, the billboards portrayed not the opponent of Petro Poroshenko, another candidate Vladimir Zelensky, but the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The office of Poroshenko explained it as an official advertising product, which emphasizing a lack of experience and weakness of Zelenskiy that could be used by Putin. While the campaigns of both candidates compete in an attempt to overshadow the opponent, they do not account the dangers coming along. Activating campaigns of candidates targeting black PR and dirty technologies on social networks limit the voters’ ability to make an adequate choice. Messages about illegal means of campaigning adversely affect the perception of the electoral process. That presidential campaign differs from the previous ones in the mass migration of dirty technologies to the Internet. The Internet has played mainly a supporting role in the campaigns, in 2019 up to two- thirds of the faithful and fake compromising on the candidates were distributed online. Accusations of incompetence, pro-Russian relations, and oligarch Igor Kolomoisky were spreading against Zelensky, Poroshenko was accused of corruption, preparing of the collapse of the electoral process, instant enrichment and the creation of another "Mezhyhirya" (the profligate residence of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych). Television ranks first among the media in influencing the audience. The TV channel "1+1", which belongs to Kolomoisky was among the leaders in throwing fakes against Poroshenko, among whom there were even accusations of killing his brother (Youtube channel, 1+1). But the channel "Pryamuy", which is associated with Poroshenko, played a similar role in the attacks on Zelensky. Zelensky was lucky that until the first round of elections there were almost no campaigns to discredit him. As other candidates of the highest echelon struggled for inclusion in the second round and conducted counter-agitation mainly against each other, he approached the second round of the race almost unharmed from mudslinging. The use of negative campaigning by Ukrainian politicians during election campaigns is getting smaller each time. The 2004 campaign was the filthiest in Ukrainian history. Then, the voters saw not only falsifications but also how small efforts needed to split the country. No elections subsequently repeated the level of dirty technology at that time, and the campaigns of 2014 and 2019 in this regard could even be called a step forward.

23 As a result of the analysis of pre-election programs of three candidates for the presidency in Ukraine, I came to the following conclusions: 1. With candidates whose programs have been investigated, everyone, except for P. Poroshenko, proposed to make changes to the Constitution of Ukraine. In this I see certain manipulativeness, because, first of all, candidates must state their vision of how they will implement their programs in life, based on the powers of the President now enshrined. People choose a candidate for the position of President within the framework of the current Constitution. Also, according to common practice, constitutional changes relating to a substantial redistribution of powers between the President, parliament, government, come into force after the new presidential, parliamentary elections. And then, respectively, the voter consciously chooses people for the office of President, People’s Deputy with their new powers. It is incorrect and dishonest to make promises to voters that are not feasible without changes to the Constitution (for example, in the direction of strengthening the powers of the President). Also, the majority of candidates state the provisions on the amendment of the Constitution as follows, as the President can individually amend it, ignoring other participants in the democratic process. Besides, the changes to the Constitution proposed by the candidates are predominantly fuzzy and populist; they do not give voters a clear vision of the desired state from candidates. 2. All candidates for the post of President abused promises, the fulfilment of which did not fall under the direct authority of the President. The President has the right to initiate legislation and can strive to fulfil his promises by submitting relevant bills to the Verkhovna Rada, but this is actually the problem: candidates almost always formulate their pledges as if a simple decision of the President can fulfil them, and only occasionally use more correct wordings like “I will introduce a bill”, “I will seek”, “I will try”, etc. I think that this approach is manipulative, because it reinforces the voters, who mostly have only superficial knowledge about the constitutional powers of the President, the false idea of the almost unlimited omnipotence of the President, misleads them, and also provokes competition in between the candidates themselves. 3. Candidates in their programs paid little attention to the direct duties of the President (foreign policy, national security and defense policy). 4. No one covered the whole complex of actual problems in their program. Of course, they were free to choose topics and priorities for their applications, but voters expected proposals from them to solve specific, most pressing problems. The lack of projects in the candidates' programs for solving actual problems could be used as an evidence of the irresponsible attitude of the candidates to the delivery of this document. 24 5. Candidate programs lacked clarity of presentation, consistency, a clear link to the term of presidential powers, as well as the definition of criteria for the fulfilment of promises.

1.2.2. Election campaign The election campaign of 2019 was fundamentally different from all previous election campaigns conducted in Ukraine. A large number of presidential candidates, the absence of two clear leaders who should go to the second round, new channels of communication with voters and the active participation of non-professional politicians made this campaign a rare phenomenon in the history of the Ukrainian electoral process. A complex of reasons The first is an external factor. This story is not unique. With the election of Donald Trump as president of the , new trends began to appear in election campaigns around the world. Trump was not a classic politician, he was primarily a showman who accurately caught the mood of the nation and tried to match them. Trump's case is not unique the same thing happens across Europe, where so-called "anti-system" parties and politicians are becoming popular. They are gaining more and more votes in the parliamentary elections and claim the position of heads of state (Kuzhel, Burmahin, 2019). Vivid examples of anti-system parties and leaders are Emmanuel Macron in France, the Five Stars movement in Italy and Andrej Babiš in the Czech Republic. These politicians are difficult to rank among the classical left, right or centrist. They work with a policy frustrated voter and get an excellent result. The second factor influencing the election process throughout the world, including in Ukraine, is technology. In the era of new technologies, nothing remains the same; this also applies to elections. It is not a secret to Cambridge Analytica's activities and their "big data" project, which made it possible to collect dossiers of 200 million Americans. In one way or another, technologies are used in all election campaigns: social networks today are comparable in influence with leading media, the smartphone has become the primary source of information, the collection of voters' data has been put on stream, and the result of elections depends mostly on the quality of the data received. We can observe all this in Ukraine, according to the study “3D-profiles of the participants of the presidential election-2019”, conducted by the Information agency "- Ukraine" (Information agency "Interfax-Ukraine" sociological investigation, 2018). Thus, according to a study, 73% of Ukrainians over 18 are actively interested in politics. An exciting trend is the “rejuvenation” of interest in politics – the most active electoral group, along with retirees and 55+, is the group of 35-44 years. According to the same study, in 2018, the Internet caught up with television as a way of receiving political news for the first time. About 70% of 25 voters receive information on, and from the network, they often combine these sources. At the same time, as a source of receiving news overtook the traditional online media. Thus, 49% of voters get information from Facebook, and 43.5% from online media. Facebook popularity figures are correlated with such a source of information as friends/acquaintances – 48.6% of voters get information from them. These figures indicate an increase in distrust of traditional media and the increasing role of informal communication. This is especially obvious in terms of age, in the category of up to 35 years old, where the Internet is undoubtedly at the first place as a channel for receiving news about politics, and social networks are leading with a considerable margin. In the category 35-44, the Internet is perceived almost as equals with a TV, after 45 the share of the Internet as a source of information decreases and the main communication channel is TV. A group of 65+ TV compete with newspapers. This may partially explain the victory of Volodymyr Zelensky, who was able to understand the public demand and match it. It's no wonder that the bulk of his campaign was online. Zelensky was focused on his voter and understood how to communicate with him. Most Ukrainian politicians used online platforms to communicate with voters, primarily Facebook advertising. Yulia Tymoshenko, Petro Poroshenko was working most actively in this segment. Their posts had millions of audience coverage; they collected thousands of likes and comments. Political Advertising There are two main aspects when it comes to the definition of the concept of political advertising. The first is the notion of direct access since this airtime or space is considered a direct form of communication between candidates and voters, with the media only providing access, but not playing any other role. This form of access can be free or paid, depending on the specific mechanisms provided by the legislation in each country (Kuzhel, Burmahin, 2019). Free election ads In many societies, public television and radio broadcasting practices provide free airtime for political candidates or parties, which can thus convey the message of the electorate. This is considered a direct form of communication between politicians and voters, without which the intermediary role of the media. One of the main advantages of providing free airtime is that in such circumstances, smaller parties or unknown candidates will be able to convey their election statements because in other cases they will not receive sufficient media coverage. In contrast to paid time, which sometimes cannot afford small parties or unknown candidates; lack of funds should not impede access to the airwaves. Parties and candidates should receive free access to public media. Neither a registered party nor a candidate should be deprived of free airtime.

26 The time available should be sufficient to enable candidates to communicate productively and demonstrate their political platforms to the general public. The allocation of time can be on an equal or proportional basis, depending on the specific context in which the elections take place. When the number of parties competing is limited, the principle of strict equality is applied. For presidential elections, referendums and the first democratic elections, the criteria of strict justice best fit the need to ensure that all applicants have similar playing conditions. The Law on Parliamentary Elections provides that "the procedure for the provision of airtime and print space at the expense of the State Budget of Ukraine allocated to ensure the conduct of election campaigning in accordance with this Law, to the parties, candidates for deputies registered in the state district, candidates Central Election Commission" (, 2012) In addition, according to the law on parliamentary elections, "broadcasting organizations provide each party, the subject of the electoral process, with air time for election campaigning for account and within the funds of the State Budget of Ukraine allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections, in a total amount of not less than 60 minutes on the national TV channel and 60 minutes on the national radio channel, as well as 20 minutes on regional TV channels and 20 minutes on local radio channels each from the regions". Candidates for deputies registered in a single-mandate district are given 20 minutes each in the respective regional TV channels and 20 minutes each on the local radio channels. This batch time is provided on each of the specified channels in two equal shares of the total amount of time allocated. The Law on Parliamentary Elections determines the order in which the airtime on the national radio channel and television channel is allocated to parties – subjects of the electoral process within the schedule specified in part five of this article, determined no later than fifty-three days before election day based on the results of the draws held by the Central Election Commission, inviting party representatives to the Central Election Commission or authorized persons of the parties. The priority of providing parties – electoral subjects and candidates registered in a single-mandate district with airtime on regional radio and television channels of state and municipal forms of ownership within the schedule specified in part five of this article is determined not later than fifty-three days before election day, as a result of the draw, held by the relevant district election commissions, established by the Central Election Commission in each region of Ukraine, with the invitation of the authorized persons of parties, candidates for deputies or proxies of candidates registered in single-mandate constituencies (Nikulina, 2019).

27 The Presidential Election Law provides that "a candidate for the presidency of Ukraine, registered by the Central Election Commission, broadcasters are given a total time for campaigning at the expense and within the funds of the State Budget of Ukraine allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections for at least 30 minutes in the national TV channel and 30 minutes on a nationwide radio channel. This time is given to the candidate for the post of President of Ukraine on each of the indicated channels in two equal parts of the total amount of time allotted". Also,"within 20 minutes before and after the television and radio broadcasts of the election campaign television and radio programs Ukraine’s President is prohibited from commenting or evaluating the content of the election campaign program in any form, giving any information about this candidate, this party". Also, "the airtime schedule with the indication of election campaign TV and radio programs, a specific date and time of their broadcasting is composed by the National Television Company of Ukraine and the National Radio Company of Ukraine according to the draw held by the Central Election Commission with the participation of candidates for the presidency of Ukraine and their proxies or authorized representatives of candidates" (Legislation of Ukraine, 1999). The time allotted to the participants is a critical variable in the monitoring of free airtime during the campaign and the speeches of candidates. The length of these videos is expected to be the same or proportionate for the participants, and programs with different candidates should be broadcast at the same time of day (depending on the system over which free airtime is distributed). Paid political advertising In addition to the withdrawal of free airtime and space paid for political advertising is another opportunity for all political parties or candidates to convey their position through the media. Although voters certainly need as much information about candidates as possible to make an informed choice, paid advertising can provide an unfair advantage for parties or candidates who can afford to buy more airtime. Therefore all societies accept this practice. When the media accepts paid political advertising, the generally accepted principle is that all paid political advertising in all forms of media should be recognizable as such. This is the minimum principle providing for the obligation to inform the public about the political nature of advertising, as well as the ability to demand party identification, orders advertising. In previous elections in Ukraine, election coverage and paid political advertising were sometimes not highlighted when the media did not allocate properly (Handbook on media monitoring for Election Observation Missions, 2012). There were cases when the media during election campaigns covered certain politicians in their news more, taking fees for this. These are corrupt practices that are unacceptable. Candidates should at their discretion, decide on the content of these messages. If a particular candidate

28 expresses a position that goes beyond the legal field, it is the candidate, not the media, who should be responsible. Broadcasters should not pre-check the commercials, and their interference or any hint of attempts to censor them should be carefully monitored. According to the law on parliamentary elections, "mass media are not responsible for the content of election campaigning, which was posted by agreements with customers, except as provided by this law and if the media was reliably aware of the existence of a relevant court decision". The law on parliamentary elections also provides that "the inclusion of election campaign materials of parties, including political advertising, in informational television and radio programs (news releases) is prohibited. All campaign materials must be separated from other materials and designated as such" (Legislation of Ukraine 2012). The law on presidential elections provides that customers of political advertising are carried out at the expense of the electoral funds of candidates for the post of President of Ukraine; during the electoral process, only candidates for broadcasting can be broadcast position of President of Ukraine.

Conclusion The presidential elections of Ukraine, have taken place on March 31, 2019 and have been dubbed as fierce and unpredictable. These presidential elections are unique because: 1. This presidential campaign differs from previous ones in extreme competition. 2. Unpredictability. During the last elections in three months, it was clear who will go to the second round, and the percentages of the leaders were significantly higher than now. 3. The crisis of trust in politicians. We have never had such a depth of distrust in any elections. This may provoke positive surprises in the polls, one surprise has already appeared, another thing is what will be the result of it. There was a request for new faces, as a protest against system candidates who have many years of political experience. 4. Parliamentary elections. We are entering a regime in which the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in one year. Part of the candidates have no chance to win the presidential elections, but they realize that this will raise the ratings of their political parties for parliamentary elections. 5. The role of social networks. Compared to 2014, the number of people who have access to the Internet has increased significantly, and therefore, the factor of social networks becomes essential.

29 1.3. The influence of the media

The role of the media in the electoral process is manifested in the information activities of covering the elections and ensuring the conduct of election campaigning under the conditions defined in the legislation. The activities of the media in the electoral process are regulated by the Laws of Ukraine "About presidential election", "About the parliamentary election in Ukraine", "On Local Elections", "On the All-Ukrainian Referendum", "On the Central Election Commission". The analysis of these laws allows determining the tasks of the media during the electoral process: – informing voters about the activities of election organizers; – conducting by the subjects of the electoral process of election campaigning; – provision of relevant information about candidates, political parties, electoral blocs. In contrast to the tasks of the media and the conditions for their use, the process of democratization of the electoral process under the influence of the press at the legislative level is still not well defined. One of the principles that underlie campaigning by using the media is to highlight the electoral process on the principles of objectivity. The information that is broadcast by the media has an impact primarily on the needs and interests of people, forming a motivation for specific political behaviour that is not perceived as imposed. If the psychological effects on the population are taken as 100%, then the influence of the media on consciousness will be 20%, and on the subconscious – 80%. The laws of Ukraine "About presidential election" and "About the parliamentary election in Ukraine" define election campaigning as the implementation of any activity aimed at encouraging voters to vote for or not to vote for a particular candidate or party. To achieve the desired result, political technologies such as PR, televised debates, stratagems are being introduced during the election campaign, which are widely used by both politicians and the media controlled by them (Legislation of Ukraine, 2012; Legislation of Ukraine, 1999). In Ukraine, more than half of the funds that come from the state budget are spent by parties and candidates for advertising, more well-off candidates (parties) have more opportunities to go on airtime for campaigning, during the pre-election campaign, the subjects of the electoral process resort to dirty technologies to achieve a result.

30 1.3.1. The place of propaganda in the media As the elections approached, the media intensively covered the election campaign, providing voters with a lot of information about candidates and their activities. However, voters could form an objective vision of the campaign only if they reviewed news from several information sources simultaneously. Despite the diverse media environment, most of the media were divided according to political preferences and remain heavily influenced by their owners. This means that individual candidates and political parties influenced several media outlets. It is necessary to understand what is essential for the viewer from an information point of view, and what appears in the news only to meet a particular candidate or for the possible payment of the appearance of a candidate in the story. This dramatically affects the overall credibility of the media. According to the generally accepted definition, fake news had manipulative information in the media about resonant events, which was "not true to reality". Unfortunately, Russian influence on the Ukrainian media remained. The war in the east of Ukraine, the elections, as well as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, turned out to be the main topics on which the Russian media focused on the situation in Ukraine. The coverage of these topics was accompanied by propaganda narratives, fake and manipulations, which also fell in the Ukrainian media. These are the results of the monitoring, which was conducted by experts of the Institute of Mass Information during February 8–15, 2019. According to the results of the monitoring, most often news with Russian narratives was distributed by the websites "Strana.ua", Newsone.ua, "Vesti", 112.ua, and znaj.ua, which were also used as the primary source of information about Ukraine in Russian informative space. Analysis of the news feed for the week showed that Ukraine had continued to be one of the main topics of the Russian informative space – 183 news on RT and 327 news on RIA Novosti concerning Ukraine, Donbass and Crimea. Also in the sample were news related to international politics, the activities of the Russian government, the development of Nord Stream 2, sanctions against Russia, when Ukraine was also spoken about (Churanova, 2019). During the week, the news of which was in the sample, discussed the possibility of the participation of Russian observers in elections in Ukraine, fixing violations in the election campaign, and also argued that massive frauds are already being prepared, mainly from pro- government political forces. The central thesis that had been advanced was that the elections in Ukraine could hardly be called legitimate, especially if there were no Russian observers. "The absence of Russian observers at the presidential elections in Ukraine calls into question the transparency and objectivity of the vote" RIA Novosti. "Russia has every right not to recognize

31 the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine after banning Russian citizens from being observers during it". The website "Strana.ua" made the following quote in the headline: "The Kyiv authorities have wiped their legs into the principles of electoral monitoring". In Russia, they decided not to send their observers to the Ukrainian elections. At the same time, the Kyiv authorities’ site decided not to provide an opportunity to speak, to explain to the audience, for what reason it was decided not to allow Russian observers. The quotes themselves, which "Strana.ua" issued in the title was not journalists independently reformatted, but it was a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry (Informational portal Strana.Ua, 2019). Newsone.ua put the news "Peskov: Elections in Ukraine are not very legitimate, but we recognize them" (Informational portal Newsone, 2019). The monitoring also showed that the majority of Ukrainian media continue to be dependent on the Russian informative space. Firstly, when the news is reported, that is not socially important for the Ukrainian audience. The second indicator of dependence on the Russian informative space is the use of Russian sources when reporting international news ("In France, 1800 protesters were convicted", "Correspondent" with reference to "RIA Novosti", "In the Colombian city bordering Venezuela", "Correspondent" with reference to "RIA Novosti"), or even entertaining ("Which alcoholic beverage is the fastest addictive," Channel 24 with reference to "RIA Novosti"). Another trend is the usage of Ukrainian media by Russian media as sources of information about events in Ukraine. It is indicative that RT and RIA Novosti mainly use information from the sites Strana.ua, Newsone.ua, 112.ua to confirm Kremlin propaganda narratives. Most often such news is manipulative and contains value judgments, not facts. Finally, I want to say that we live in the age of information warfare. It is essential to have the ability to distinguish propaganda settings. Such misinformation was directed against the Ukrainian statehood, achievements and democracy. But in any case, the elections in 2019 were called the most democratic in the days of the independent Ukrainian state. People made their choice at this not easy time for the country.

1.3.2. Independence in the Ukrainian media The development of independent media began in Ukraine about 25 years ago. However, to move away from the Soviet submission patterns, a more extended period was needed. Unfortunately, in the 90s, Ukraine lost its chance to form a modern, unbiased media system. A second chance for the emergence of an independent media came after the Orange Revolution, but that time, the media could not make a real breakthrough, most of them remained the mouthpiece

32 of the oligarchs. Indeed, the Ukrainian press began to change only after the Revolution of Dignity, when they had to respond adequately to the state of affairs in the country and respond to the demands of society. But the process of transformation of Ukrainian media continues, and now, in my opinion, it has not reached the top yet. On the one hand, we witness an increase in the consciousness and responsibility of journalists who do not want to spoil their reputation for the sake of instant earnings, on the other hand, society forces the media to develop, improve, and move away from the old patterns. Ukrainian television broadcasts remain the scene of information warfare between rival oligarchs and political battles. The war in Donbass and large-scale Russian propaganda has a significant impact on the media space of Ukraine. Ukrainian journalism is going through a problematic post-revolutionary phase in which it needs to find and defend its role in society. The Revolution of Dignity became a catalyst for the emergence of civil society in Ukraine. In the new realities, the media of the old format lose their trust and prestige, which makes it possible for the new media to express themselves, and the media to become fragmented. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian press cannot operate as an independent business, and most of the media is owned by oligarchs – especially those types of media that require significant investments. Now we see the growth of news services – there are such round-the-clock news TV channels like 112, ZIK, Espresso. However, there is no proper transparency in the property – different oligarchs own them. This is a big problem. In the period between elections, the Ukrainian media and Ukrainian journalists feel freer. But during the election, it becomes apparent that they work for their owner. Oligarchs are people who have political influence, seek to get it, politicians or members of parliament who own the media, use them as a tool to promote political and economic interests. This is a big problem for Ukraine (Popova, 2016). For an extended period, I monitored the leading TV channels. I want to tell more detailed about Ukrainian TV channels. "Pryamuy" owned by P. Poroshenko, had "frankly sympathized" to the former president. But also "Pryamuy" demonstrated "crushing criticism" of Yulia Tymoshenko and Zelensky. Channel "Ukraine" belongs to the wealthiest businessman of the country , who has a significant impact on the faction "Opposition bloc" in Verkhovna Rada. The channel "Ukraine" demonstrated sympathy for the candidate from the "Opposition bloc - the party of peace and development" Alexander Vilkul, and at the same time criticized the candidate from the "Opposition platform – For life" Yuriy Boyko. Experts attributed that to a split in the "Opposition bloc". At the same time, Boyko's campaign was actively covered and supported by "Inter" TV channel (Official portal “112 Ukraine”).

33 The TV channel NewsOne belongs to the family of Evgeny Murayev, another member of the "Opposition Bloc", who was one of the leaders of the “For Life” party. The TV channel was often criticized for pro-Russian views, and some radical right-wing organizations even tried to block its work several times. Mr Murayev very often found himself at the centre of political scandals for his statements about the events in the , and even Oleg Sentsov, partly correlated with the point of view of the Russian authorities. On August 29, 2018 it became officially known that the famous leader of the times of President Yanukovich, Andrey Portnov, received Mr Murayev’s canal in a three-year administration. Mr Portnov worked as the deputy administrator of President Yanukovych and was engaged in the judicial system of Ukraine. Before the presidential elections of 2010, Mr Portnov was one of the leaders of the legal team of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and then moved to the new president. After Euromaidan, Andrey Portnov, together with the team of the ex-president, left Ukraine, and now lives in Vienna. Portnov himself explains that he took control of the NewsOne channel to protect and ensure its independence. ICTV – International Commercial TeleVision. ICTV, which belonged to the Ukrainian state concern BRT and the American private corporation Story First Communications, was founded in 1991. Having taken a course on entertainment programs, the television channel was the first among Ukrainian channels to master the technique of sounding and dubbing foreign films. In September 2000, the channel was sold to a company with foreign investment "Royal Capital OOO Central Moscow Depository" (Russia), subsidiaries "Promidiya", "Agency of Information Technologies" and "Interpipe". In the same 2000, Alexander Bogutsky became general director of ICTV. In 2008, all 100% of the shares of the TV channel were consolidated into TV-Holding. November 11, 2009 ICTV entered StarLightMedia media holding. The priority for ICTV is the information block of the broadcast. "Svoboda slova" was the first large-scale social and political project on national television. First, the program was led by Savik Shuster, who subsequently switched to the Inter channel with his program (Official portal "ICTV"). Novyy Kanal – Ukrainian TV channel. Included in StarLightMedia holding. The official co-owners of the chain are the enterprise with foreign investments. Until 2003, the Russian Alfa- Group (through the Ukrainian Alfa-Bank affiliated with it) had control over the channel, but during 2003–2004 the shares in it were bought by structures close to Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk. Since April 1999, Alexander Tkachenko led the New Channel, in January 2005, he was replaced by Irina Lysenko. May 15, 2012, the post of general director was taken by Vladimir Lokotko (Official portal "Novyy Kanal").

34 Unlike other oligarchs, Pinchuk has no established quotas in parliament. This gap, he easily replaces with the talent to find a common language with all politicians. Only a few deputies are oriented towards on him. According to sources surrounded by Pinchuk, the oligarch is in no hurry to make clear bets at all during the presidential election. Before the start of the campaign, it was cunning to give access to his TV channels to Tymoshenko, Poroshenko, Zelensky, Anatoly Gritsenko or any other strong candidates, and then act on the situation. At ICTV positive stories about Poroshenko and Tymoshenko were regularly submitted. And they traditionally praised ex- President Kuchma, whose son-in-law is Pinchuk. Also, "1+1" is the Ukrainian national TV channel, which is included in the media conglomerate "1+1 Media". The ultimate beneficial owner of the TV channel is Igor Kolomoisky, and the owner of substantial participation is Igor Surkis. The chain was founded in September 1995. Since March 2006, the international version of the 1+1 channel, "1+1 International", has been launched in the cable networks of the USA and Canada. Since its founding, Studio 1+1 has owned three owners: 20% to the chairman of the board of directors of the channel, , 30% to American media corporation Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME, founder and principal shareholder Ronald Lauder), 50% of the company InterMedia, which in turn belongs to the German company Innova-Film, which until recently was controlled by Boris Fuchsman (Official portal "1+1"). Kolomoisky had a complicated relationship with the former president, and in his hands remained a severe resource in the form of the "1+1" TV channel. According to the monitoring of television news, most often on the channel in a positive light recalled presidential candidate Alexander Shevchenko, who together with Kolomoisky was a business partner in the ski resort "Bukovel". Zhen more and more often began to appear Volodumr Zelensky. Previously, the comic was not mentioned at all in the news blocks. On "1+1" he appeared in a vast number of comedy shows, series, and commercials. Then Zelensky was mentioned in all releases of news. Also, Yulia Tymoshenko was remembered regularly, but unobtrusively. There the leader of "Batkivshchyna" was shown exclusively in a positive light. But in the news, they were not afraid to criticize Petro Poroshenko. The former president had been discussed in the program "Money", in which it was systematically told about his business and offshore. Also the “Money” showed the plot, where Poroshenko’s company "Roshen" had secretly exported equipment from Russia. Such an aggressive tone was a consequence of Kolomoisky's resentment towards the former president. The oligarch believed that it was Poroshenko who took PrivatBank from him, which led to the loss of his super-serious financial instrument within the entire country. Inter – Ukrainian national TV channel, which began broadcasting on October 20, 1996. It is the leading media resource of the oligarch Firtash and the former head of the Administration of 35 President from the times of Yanukovich Levochkin. Previously it was the "first button" and the most popular channel in Ukraine, but after the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of the war in the Donbas, Inter lost its position substantially. In election period, Inter had actively promoted Yuriy Boyko and the "Opposition Platform – For Life", through which Boyko and Levochkin were expelled from Opoblok. Less often, but systematically and equally positively, Inter informed about the activities of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko. Sources in the "Opposition bloc" claimed that in the presidential elections the oligarchs actively promote Yuriy Boyko. The goal was not the presidency, but a large fraction in the next parliament, that was the autumn parliamentary elections (Official portal "Inter"). – Ukrainian television channel, was created by the standards of "BBC". Control of "5 Kanal" business structures is associated with Petro Poroshenko. According to the monitoring, the news of “5 Kanal” systematically and positively informed about the activities of the former president. The final news releases of the Poroshenko channel showed the political picture of the day, which he most likely would like to see – with a minimal amount of criticism of the actions of the authorities and the maximum boost of its most successful steps.

36 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1. Qualitative research approach

The aim of the research is to show people opinions on presidential elections, how the media influenced their decisions and where did they learn the basic information about the elections. It is a complex issue that definitely can’t be studied without a social context. Consequently, to conduct this investigation was applied a qualitative approach, which is presented by the case study method. According to the definition of a qualitative methodological approach which is determined by N. F. Naumova: "Qualitative analysis in the broad sense of the word means such a character of sociological research, in which the main focus is on the theoretical resources of sociology, individual experience, observation and intuition, traditional means of philosophical and logical analysis of categories and concepts, historical comparisons, the use of personal and official documents" (A brief dictionary of sociology. M.: Politizdat, 1988.) The study, which uses qualitative methods, makes it possible to understand and study the attitudes, beliefs, causes of people's behavior, their daily practices. They are not aimed at measuring the quantitative parameters of the studied phenomena, and not knowing their quality. In order to develop a thorough understanding of the case, the case study approach usually involves the collection of multiple sources of evidence, using a range of quantitative (e.g. questionnaires, audits and analysis of collected data) and more commonly qualitative techniques (e.g. interviews, focus groups and observations). After the first part of our work – analyzing the data, we moved to the second part – conducting the interviews. The interview is used in many scientific disciplines and areas of human activity: sociology, psychology, journalism, statistics, ethnography, pedagogy, management, medicine, criminology. This special method is highly relevant to the nature of social cognition. A sociological interview, therefore, is a kind of sociological survey, in which direct information and communication interaction between the sociologist and the respondents is carried out. Depending on the degree of standardization, interviews are divided into: a) structured – is a type of interview in which the interviewer asks a particular set of predetermined questions; b) semi-structured – is a type of interview in which the interviewer asks only a few predetermined questions while the rest of the questions are not planned in advance; c) unstructured – is a type of interview in which the interviewer asks questions which are not prepared in advance (Martic K., 2018) . 37 The most suitable for our research is a semi-structured interview.

2.2. Sample and organization of the interviews According to the survey conducted by the Sociological Group "Rating" in the beginning of the March, 2019, almost two-thirds of the polled said they always took part in the elections, and 22% – almost always. 4% of the respondents said they would vote for the first time. Only 10% vote either almost never or never. The highest number of the latter was recorded among the youngest respondents and residents of Kyiv. 83% of the respondents to some degree declare their readiness have taken part in the presidential elections on March 31, 2019. Among the sympathizers of all rating candidates, the willingness to vote is expressed by about 80% of the polled. Relatively lower mobilization is observed among the youngest age groups (18-25 and 26-35 years old) and in Kyiv. The highest level of trust among presidential candidates has Volodymyr Zelensky (43%), then Yulia Tymoshenko (28%), Anatoly Gritsenko (26%) and Petro Poroshenko (24%). At the same time, the highest distrust rating has Petro Poroshenko (69%) and Oleg Lyashko (71%) (Assessment of the election process: intentions and reasons for voting, trust and sympathies, 2019). Ukrainians living abroad had the opportunity to vote in the Ukrainian presidential elections at 101 polling stations in 72 countries. 99 sites were created at the embassies and consulates of Ukraine, two more – formed at military units stationed outside Ukraine – in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Kosovo. Ukrainians residing permanently in Russia was able to vote in the embassies of Ukraine in , , and . The target population for current research were Ukrainians living in Ukraine and other countries. The research was not focused on some particular group of people, thus, the sample is diverse according to the age, type of occupation, sex, age, place of living. Respondents were chosen randomly. In order to reach a higher response rate, the snowball sampling technique was also applied – the respondents were asked for their colleagues contacts. Besides, for a more diverse sample, the Internet was used for getting in touch with other interviewees. The summary of the most important information is listed in Table 1. Table 1. Socio-demographic information about the informants

Name Sex Age Place of living Occupation

Ann Female 25 Ukraine Artist

Bogdan Male 24 Ukraine Student

38 Taras Male 25 Poland Driver

Natalia Female 30 Ukraine Doctor

Katerina Female 28 Ukraine Housewife

Anton Male 24 Student

Yuriy Male 23 Ukraine Student

Sofiia Female 20 Ukraine Student

Igor Male 30 Poland Accountant

Viktor Male 20 Ukraine Barista

Andrew Male 30 Ukraine Social worker

Source : compiled by author

The total number of respondents was 11. 4 of them female; 7 – male. 8 respondents live in Ukraine, 3 live abroad. As we can see the age of respondents varies from 20 till 30. The interviews were performed using Skype and Viber, as many respondents were in Ukraine or abroad. The average duration of the interview was 20 minutes. During our research, we had difficulties in finding and engaging respondents to answer the questions. Many Ukrainians have never had experience in giving an interview and got nervous after finding out the theme of the work. After all explanations about anonymity and confidentiality, a lot of them were ready to help.

2.3. Research instrument

The main research instrument for collecting data in qualitative research is a semistructured questionnaire. A questionnaire is a data collection instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts to gather information from respondents. Here the focus is on presidential elections and whether people can discriminate between propaganda and how many people trust the media to cover the political situation in general (see Annex 1). The questionnaire consists of three blocks: Background (5), Attitude to politics (7) and "Servant of the People" as a political tool (5).

The first block of questions is made to define the similarities and differences of the respondents. The second and the third blocks are directly related to attitude about political situation in

39 2019. They include questions about the place of media in everyday life.

40 3. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

3.1. The problem of choice

Each of us face the problem of choice dozens of times per day. We choose what decision to make at work, what to buy for dinner, what to watch for a movie or which party to give preference in the elections. Moreover, quite often, this problem disturbs our peace, makes us nervous, causes stress; it complicates our life in every possible way. Sometimes it even seems that it was more comfortable during the times of "developed socialism" when only one single candidate ran for the elections. However, a person always has a choice. Moreover, our Soviet past is an explicit confirmation of this. However, also outside the political dimension, life continually puts us in a situation of choice. In the problem of choice, there is another aspect: first, we are going through what to choose, and then – that we chose the wrong thing. What respondents say about it:

“The previous year the number of presidential candidates was abnormally large. The biggest problem was to choose someone. Although if you understand the proposed programs, you can 'draw a picture'. It is always tricky to make a choice. Because the question continually arises: maybe I was wrong? I have voted for Volodymyr Zelensky. For now, I have some questions for him.” (Katerina, 28-years old)

“These elections have rewritten the . The election campaign was brilliant! It was something like an entertainment show. There was so much advertisement! Even Ms. Tymoshenko has changed her image. Unfortunately, I have argued with my wife. She thought that Volodymyr Zelensky was the best candidate. I was convinced that Petro Poroshenko. The best thing was to watch their battle.” (Andrew, 30-years old)

“In 2019 I have voted for the first time. Perhaps this is wrong, but I have changed my mind three times. At first, I was delighted by Mr. Zelensky. I remembered that New Year evening with my parents and at midnight on the main channel of the country, instead of greetings of the current president, they showed a video in which Mr. Zelensky said that he is going to be a new president. My first thought was "wow". However, my parents quickly brought me around. I decided to conduct an independent study. I wrote myself a list of

41 candidates and re-read their campaign promises. So I realized that I want to vote for Ruslan Koshulinsky. Moreover, when I told my parents about it, they became angry. They said that I should give a vote for the current president of Ukraine. So why? Parents believed that only he could finally stop this war in the east of Ukraine and returned the annexed lands. Moreover, five years have passed and he could not do it. However, I have voted for Mr. Petro.” (Sofiia, 20-years old)

“Most Ukrainians want to live with high salaries, guaranteed rights, fair courts, and other benefits of civilization. At the same time, the average Ukrainian is convinced that the mythical national leader has to ensure everything. It must be a specific person with a clear set of characteristics: honest, smart, strong, not to be afraid of Putin, and so on. And this is a mythical leader that Ukrainians are looking for all the time. And they are very disappointed when they do not find him. The 2019 presidential election wasn't an exception when the people said again "there is no one to choose from" and "we will have to vote for less evil." But the problem here is not in the list of candidates but in the expectations of citizens.” (Yuriy, 23-years old)

"The ballot is stronger than the bullet,” said Abraham Lincoln. However, unfortunately, not everyone understands how it all really works. ” (Ann, 25-years old)

So exploring the problem of choice, I was faced with the fact that people are confused. As I noted in the theoretical part, the current election campaign differs from the previous with a broad range of choice. Politicians have competed in bright promises. To reduce prices for gas? Of course. Lower retirement age or higher pension? Why not. In my opinion, people have learned to differentiate the populist sentiments of politicians.

3.2. Independence for Ukrainians

The one who ignores the media loses. The one to whom they belong and who use this tool wisely, triumphs and achieves his goals. Although often, these goals are ignoble and harmful to society. However, as wise people say, first conquer the human consciousness, and then you can begin real military actions. One of the essential features of modern mass media is their ability to manipulate public opinion. By submitting certain information from the right angle or, conversely,

42 by blocking its wide distribution, public opinion is gradually formed. The media can change our perception of reality, create and produce new stereotypes, myths and behaviors. What is an independent choice for Ukrainians? Whether they understand how conscious is their choice?

“From my point of view, the previous year was one of the most interesting in the election race. I have voted the first time. Truly speaking I have never interested in political life. A few weeks before the election I have decided to involve myself in the political situation in Ukraine. I have faced a big number of candidates. I was I little bit confused. Among all the candidates, Volodymyr Zelensky attracted my attention. I constantly monitored his activities. And I must admit that he was very convincing. And guess what? I have voted for him. ” (Viktor, 20-years old)

“As I'm a student I have always try to earn some money. Last year wasn't exception. I found two identical vacancies. I had to hand out campaign leaflets. Yulia Tymoshenko or Petro Poroshenko. That was the choice. Money decides everything. I was in Yulia Tymoshenko's team. Good salary, hot tea. I was even upset that she was out of the political race. I'll tell you a secret. I have voted for Volodymyr Zelensky.” (Bogdan, 24-years old)

“I went to study in Germany. I have chosen the faculty of political science. So I understand a little about it all. Among all candidates for the post of president, I chose the top three in my opinion. Moreover, since then consistently followed them. Looking through the news, I realized that the apparent leaders would be Poroshenko, Zelensky and Tymoshenko. Having analyzed their election campaign, I decided to cast my vote for Zelensky. He was the best candidate for the post of President of Ukraine. People are tired of the old power. You can draw a parallel between Trump and Zelensky. We see that the Americans were not mistaken in their choice. I like the fact that I have made an independent choice. Parents have supported another candidate. However, this in no way affected my choice.”(Anton, 24-years old).

“What I like the most is the fact that we all under the pressure. I'm an art teacher at the local school. I had to maintain the interest of the school. Petro Oleksiyovych is very popular in western Ukraine.”(Ann, 25-years old).

43 Having analyzed the answers of the respondents, I concluded that not everyone was able to make an independent choice. Someone was influenced by the media, someone by pressure from another person. In my opinion, the independent choice depends on many factors. For example, it can be age or profession. Also, introspection. How much a person is conscious of what he/she does and how much conscious that he/she decides the fate of the country.

44 3.3. The attitude of Ukrainians towards the media

Control over information allows to manipulate the mass consciousness, create such a model that is beneficial to the subject of influence, and decide which problems are most relevant today, and society should discuss them. Sometimes the urgency of the problems coincides with the level of their coverage in the media. Often, the media produce artificial consciousness, when the reality that is offered for consumption differs significantly from actuality. In Ukrainian realities, the biggest problem is that extensive media holdings control the oligarchic groups. This is a consequence of the domination of a specific postcolonial socio-economic model in the state. After all, the oligarchs need not only to control the economy. They need political power or controlled people in power or party in parliament, through which you can build your shadow schemes, download national wealth, win tenders and have access to the budget. Moreover, also to prevent non-oligarchic political forces from coming to power, which will threaten their monopoly position and may try to destroy the rule of the oligarchs in the economy and politics. One of the most critical ways to retain their influence and real power in the state is the manipulation of public consciousness through the media. That is why the leading television companies, radio, newspapers and quite a few sites in Ukraine are to one degree or another connected with oligarchs.

“When I checked my Instagram page I received a message from the page of Yulia Tymoshenko, who suggested to promote her on my page, by the way, I have more than 150 000 followers. I was shocked because it was something new. But I declined her proposal.” (Yuriy, 23-years old)

“I like the fact that now everything is with access. You can open any kind of media resources and find information there. I prefer to use Facebook or Youtube. For me, it is the most comfortable variants. I can choose the most important points by myself.” (Taras, 25-years old)

“An effective Internet resource is Twitter, in which a politician must find a connection with his audience, he must behave naturally, publish such records that will help get closer to their potential voters. Candidate needs to find a balance between the presentation of political material, humor, and simple phrases for the people. A clear example of such a strategy was Donald Trump with his election campaign. His followers could not ignore any of his messages; they either hated or loved his harsh remarks. His Twitter account

45 replaced television news with election time, so Trump's staff actively used it.” (Natalia, 30- years old)

“I am a creative person, and I work only in this direction. Consider myself apolitical. However, it is difficult to hold such a position when all social networks are filled with information about elections. I do not watch TV as a principle because I know almost all channels are under the leadership of oligarchs. Everything works by agreement.” (Ann, 25-years old)

Communicating with the respondents, I noticed that almost everyone has a distrust of television channels. People prefer the Internet resources. The one, who owns the media, forms the direction of their work, the perspective of covering the processes and events in the country. Alternatively, establishes an information blockade of competitors. In Ukraine, this tool of influencing public consciousness is fully used. In the conditions of the information age and the ability of the media to shape the agenda of the society, determining at its discretion the level of importance of specific facts and events, the tasks of media de-oligarchization take on particular importance. After all, the public consciousness is deformed, living with false ideas about reality, the causes of specific processes in the state is not able to ensure systemic changes in the country and choose the power that will serve the national interests.

3.4. Servant of the People

There is an opinion that the cinema is not able to influence reality. However, in a world where both politics and commerce are directly dependent on human sympathy, films, often unintentionally and unpredictably, become drivers of change. I have tried to understand how the serial "Servant of the People" has changed people's minds.

“For me and my parents, it was often fun to watch the products of the Kvartal 95. The TV series "Servant of the People" was no exception. I did not like it at all. First, Ukraine is portrayed almost entirely in Russian, and most Ukrainians who speak Ukrainian looked ridiculous. In reality, Ukrainian in Ukraine sounds at least as common as Russian. Second, Ukrainian corruption is also greatly exaggerated.” (Igor, 30-years old)

“In Ukraine, both the image of Holoborodko and Zelensky himself could play a role. Perhaps the factor played that it was like a dream about Cinderella - a simple man, honest,

46 though not qualified, will become president.” (Andrew, 30-years old)

“I have interested in the series after the official statement of Vladimir Zelensky. And I must say that this series still impressed me. Everything was very subtly calculated. We all dreamed of a hero like the one portrayed in the series. The screening of the TV series "Servant of the People" before the election became "part of the election campaign.” (Katerina, 28-years old)

After working with the interviewers, I want to give some examples of why the series "Servant of the People" contains and at the same time does not contain propaganda motives. What does it mean that the TV series "Servant of the People" is aimed at encouraging voters to vote for Zelensky?

1. The series is deliberately planned for the time of the election campaign. 2. Zelensky obviously knew that he would run for President of Ukraine long before he made a public statement. 3. The previous season came out in the fall of 2017 and there were no exact plans to shoot a sequel then. 4. Zelensky was nominated for President by a political party that has exactly the same name as the series. 5. Zelensky has friendly relations with the owner of TV channel "1+1". 6. Zelensky personally noted that he takes the opportunity to get more PR from the fact that "Servant of the People" is already a promoted brand.

While the series also has a commercial purpose, its placement during the election campaign is most likely intended to encourage voters to vote for Zelensky. Why is the TV series "Servant of the People" not an agitation? 1. The main purpose of the series as a business project is a commercial interest – to make money. 2. The pre-election period is the best time to show the third season, which guarantees high ratings and additional income (regardless of whether Zelensky was a candidate for presidency or not) 3. The series "Servant of the People" was created long before the election campaign (first aired on the 16 November 2015). 4. Plans to show the series in March 2019 were announced before Zelensky's decision to

47 run for president. Taking into account all information, from my point of view, TV serial is a well-thought- out plan. But to stay objective, I can not say that it is bad because everyone knows that all means are fair in love and war.

48 CONCLUSIONS

Translated from Latin, "president" means "the one that lies ahead". The development of this political institution dates back to the end of the XVIII century with the formation of the first democratic regimes in the countries of the New and Old Worlds. In Ukraine, the birth of a democratic society began in the times of the Cossacks, but the rapid development of democracy and the institution of the presidency began in the 10s. The presidency of Ukraine was founded on July 5, 1991, by the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR "On the election of the President of the Ukrainian SSR". On December 1, 1991, a national referendum was held, at which, simultaneously with the proclamation of independence of Ukraine, the people gave preference to the presidential form of government. On that day, the first President of the new Ukrainian state, , was elected. In July 1994, as a result of the early presidential elections, the country was headed by Leonid Kuchma. He was head of state for ten years, winning the next presidential election – 1999. Elections have great importance both in the life of each society and in the political science of a particular country, region and the whole world. Among the many properties of the election phenomenon, we note only their permanent nature. The constitutions of all democratic countries enshrined the regularity and binding nature of elections through clearly defined time intervals. Each time elections show a wide range of results from the one who won – became the elected head of state, passed to parliament, to work out the level of the political weight of each political leader. Consideration of the election results, which was hold in Ukraine, allowed us to highlight what difficulties respondents encountered, why the 2019 election campaign is extraordinary; how independent the media is; how much people trust the media. The importance of this analysis lies in the fact that, despite the high voltage that society experienced during elections, life always brings to the fore the next problems and questions. Today they occupy the primary attention of the main political actors, these issues are discussed in the media, and many citizens are attracted to them. And yesterday they are gradually forgotten, sometimes as a result of the conscious action of political actors. Consideration of the election campaign allows people to avoid the danger of perceiving current political events solely based on the current situation. The electoral system is an essential component of the political regime. On the one hand, it sets the rules for the formation of government bodies, and on the other, it has a direct impact on the electoral process. The electoral system is one of the factors determining the configuration of 49 the party system in the country. The main component of electoral systems is elections. Election is the formal process of selecting a person for public office or of accepting or rejecting a political by voting. To sum up, I can say that our interviews demonstrated that people were ready for changes.

50 REFERENCES

1. Analytical portal “Slovo i Dilo” (2019) Petro Poroshenko: Portrait of the Fifth President of Ukraine. [Online], Available at: https://www.slovoidilo.ua/2015/05/28/infografika/polityka/petro-poroshenko-portret-pyatoho- prezydenta-ukrayiny 2. Bloc Petro Poroshenko “Solidarnist” official site. [Online], Available at: http://solydarnist.org/ 3. Churanova O. (2019) Which Ukrainian mass media broadcast Russian mass messages. Kyiv: Institute of Mass Information 4. Constitution of Ukraine 5. Doroshenko D. (1992) Essay on the history of Ukraine. Kyiv Globus. 6. Eulau H., Gibbins R. (2015) Election. Encyclopædia Britannica inc. 7. Handbook on media monitoring for Election Observation Missions (2012) Free Airtime / Space. Warsaw: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) 8. Information agency "Interfax-Ukraine" sociological investigation (2018) 3D-profiles of the participants of the presidential election-2019. [Online], Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0LefVM510M&feature=youtu.be&t=7m46s 9. Informational portal Newsone (2019) Peskov: Elections in Ukraine are not very legitimate, but we recognize them. [Online], Available at: https://newsone.ua/news/politics/peskov-vybory- v-ukraine-ne-ochen-lehitimny-no-my-ikh-priznaem.html 10. Informational portal Strana.Ua (2019) The Kiev authorities have wiped their legs into the principles of electoral monitoring. [Online], Available at: https://strana.ua/news/185293-v-rossii- otkazalis-slat-svoikh-nabljudatelej-na-vybory-v-ukrainu-iz-soobrazhenij-bezopasnosti.html 11. International Society for fair elections and democracy (2016) What we need to know about the pre-election campaign. [Online], Available at: http://old.isfed.ge/main/about/history/eng/ 12. Ivanov V. (2007) History of State and Law of Ukraine. Kyiv: Inter-regional academy of personnel management. 13. Kuzhel R., Burmahin O. (2019) Presidential and parliamentary elections 2019, Ukraine. Council of Europe 14. Legislation of Ukraine (1999) About presidential election, Verkhovna Rada 15. Legislation of Ukraine (2012) About the parliamentary election in Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada

51 16. Martic K., (2018) Difference between structured, unstructured and semi-structured job interviews. [Online], Available at: https://www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/92/difference- between-structured-unstructured-and-semi-structured-job-interviews 17. Nikulina O. (2019) More than half a billion dollars in advertising: who is spending on the start of the presidential campaign. Kyiv: International Renaissance Foundation 18. Official portal “112 Ukraine”. [Online], Available at: https://ua.112.ua 19. Official portal “1+1”. [Online], Available at: https://1plus1.ua/ 20. Official portal “5 Kanal”. [Online], Available at: https://www.5.ua/ 21. Official portal “ICTV”. [Online], Available at: https://ictv.ua/ua/ 22. Official portal “Inter”. [Online], Available at: https://inter.ua/ 23. Official portal “Novyy Kanal”. [Online], Available at: https://novy.tv/ua/ 24. Official site of Volodymyr Zelensky. [Online], Available at: https://ze2019.com/ 25. Official site of Yulia Tymoshenko, [Online], Available at: https://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/ 26. OPORA, (2019) [Online], Available at: https://www.oporaua.org/ 27. POLITEKA, (2019) Volodymyr Zelensky: showman, satirist and politician. [Online], Available at: https://politeka.net/ua/person/837433-vladimir-zelenskij-shoumen-satirik-i-politik/ 28. Popova T. (2016) Ukrainian Media: Problems and Prospects. Kyiv: Detector media 29. Slyusarenko A., Tomenko M. (1997) History of the Ukrainian Constitution. Kyiv: Ukrainian Legal Foundation. 30. Sociological group rating, (2019) Assessment of the election process: intentions and reasons for voting, trust and sympathies. [Online], Available at: http://ratinggroup.ua/en/research/ukraine/ocenki_izbiratelnogo_processa_namereniya_i_motivy_ golosovaniya_doverie_i_simpatii.html 31. The law of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, (1957) About introduction of changes and additions to the text of the Constitution (Basic Law) of Ukrainian SSR 32. The law of the USSR about the President of Ukrainian SSR 33. Tyshchyk B., (2004) Western Ukrainian People's Republic (1918-1923). Triada plus 34. Tyshchyk B., Kulchytsky V., (1996) History of state and law of Ukraine. Lviv: Svit 35. Youtube channel 1+1, (2019) Ukrainian sensations. 50 shades of Poroshenko. [Online], Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNDmnRbxkGQ&t=1433s

52 ANNEX 1 Our questionnaire consists of three blocks: general information about respondents (4), attitude to politics (8), "Servant of the People" as a political tool (5). I Block BACKGROUND 1. Sex 2. Age 3. Place of living 4. Nationality?

II Block ATTITUDE TO POLITICS 1. Do you participate in elections every time? (every five years) 2. What do you think about the election campaign 2019? 3. Whether your opinion was stable from the very beginning or you changed it during the election campaign? 4. What do you think about the leading candidates for the presidency of Ukraine? 5. Is Propaganda an Important Place in Presidential Elections? 6. Do you think there was a difference between the coverage of the foreign and Ukrainian mass media of the presidential election? 7. What do you expect from the election? 8. Which media resources are most often used to find out what is new in the “election race”?

III Block ‘SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE’ AS A POLITICAL TOOL

1. Have you ever heard about Ukrainian TV serial ‘ Servant of the People’ 2. Have you watched it? 3. Do you like it? 4. What do you think about the impact of this serial? 5. Coincidence or a well-thought-out plan?

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