Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has agreed to a face-off with the presidential race frontrunner Volodymyr Zelensky, in Kiev’s 70,000-seat Olympic stadium. What a spectacular twist to an already colorful Ukrainian election campaign, all the more impressive to a Russian audience, as it is impossible to imagine a debate — in any form — involving a rival to Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s presidential runoff is scheduled for April 21 while the debate is set for April 19, marking the final stretch of this campaign.

And while this won't be the first televised debate between an incumbent Ukrainian president and a rival (the last one occurred in 2004 between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovich and was watched by almost half of the country), it will be the very first one taking place in a stadium.

The challenge to a public debate was initiated by Poroshenko and Zelensky’s response through a video clip more fitting of a music video than a political campaign. Zelensky called for the debate to take place in the Olympic stadium “facing the people of Ukraine” and that the opponents should undergo a medical test, to demonstrate that the future head of state “will be neither an alcoholic nor a drug addict”.

Poroshenko shot back in a video clip of his own, agreeing to the unusual terms. It goes somewhat without saying that Poroshenko is more accustomed to serious debates on political, economic and social issues, while Zelensky is an experienced showman, who knows how to entertain the audience. It is therefore impossible to predict the result of a duel between such opponents, which makes it all the more intriguing to follow.

And not only from within Ukraine. According to a survey conducted by VTsIOM in April, 39 percent of Russian respondents said they were closely following the Ukrainian presidential election, compared to only 28 percent in 2014.