Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky, born on January 25, 1978, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, is a significant political figure who transitioned from a successful career in entertainment to become the sixth president of Ukraine in 2019. Prior to his presidency, Zelensky gained fame as a comedian and actor, especially noted for his role in the sitcom "Servant of the People," where he portrayed a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president. His ascent to political power capitalized on his charisma and an unorthodox campaign strategy focusing on anti-corruption.
Zelensky's leadership has been marked by substantial challenges, including navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and responding to the escalating tensions with Russia. In February 2022, he became a global symbol of resistance against the Russian invasion, famously refusing an offer to evacuate and instead rallying the nation and the world for support. Under his guidance, Ukraine received significant international military and financial aid, with Zelensky appealing to various global leaders for assistance in defending Ukraine's sovereignty. His efforts have made him a prominent figure on the international stage, leading to recognitions such as Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2022. Balancing his public duties, Zelensky is also a family man, married to Olena Zelenska, with whom he has two children.
Volodymyr Zelensky
President of Ukraine, politician, entertainer
- Born: January 25, 1978
- Place of Birth: Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine
Significance: Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as president of Ukraine in 2019 following a career as a comedian and actor. During his presidency, he has led Ukraine through political challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in February 2022, Zelensky became an international symbol of Ukraine's resistance to the Russian invasion. His leadership helped secure funding for Ukraine's war effort from the United States and other countries and also helped to unify and bolster millions of Ukrainians who rose to defend their national independence.
Background
Volodymyr Zelensky (sometimes anglicized as Zelenskyy) was born in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, on January 25, 1978. He was from a Jewish family, with parents Alexander, a professor, and Rimma, an engineer. During Zelensky’s youth, Ukraine was a republic in the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed Ukraine to secure its independence but left it in a precarious position, particularly due to ongoing influence from its powerful neighbor, Russia. However, Zelensky showed little inclination toward political involvement in his country then, instead pursuing his love of comedy and acting.
He soon became a well-known performer in his hometown, appearing in plays, musical events, and sketch comedy festivals. He and some comedian friends started a troupe called Kvartal 95. Their name referred to their neighborhood in 1997. Kvartal 95 later expanded into a successful production company. By the early 2000s, Zelensky and his compatriots were appearing in televised comedy shows full of political satire and risqué humor.
While Zelensky participated in various shows, he also studied law at Kyiv National Economic University, graduating in 2000 with a Juris Doctorate. However, this degree did little to change the course of his life then, as he was heading for entertainment stardom. He appeared on Ukraine’s Dancing with the Stars and won the competition in 2006 before going on to appear in various comedy and romantic-comedy films.
Life’s Work
Zelensky’s most memorable role was playing the lead in Servant of the People (2015). In this lighthearted sitcom, Zelensky portrayed a teacher who stumbles into the presidency of Ukraine. The show planted in him an interest in politics, and he began parlaying his fame as a performer into a political career. He took an unusual approach to his campaign, winning over potential voters with comedy, charisma, and social media acumen. He used his status as an unorthodox candidate to his advantage in his promise to end entrenched government corruption.
In April 2019, Zelensky won the presidency by a significant margin, replacing former president Petro Poroshenko and becoming the sixth president of Ukraine. The young actor’s sweeping political victory led to a presidency full of extraordinary circumstances and struggles of international proportions.
Just months after taking office, Zelensky received a call from then-United States President Donald Trump, who desired that he investigate the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. This questionable overture and the revelation that Trump had withheld scheduled aid to Ukraine as leverage led to Trump’s first impeachment by the United States House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Zelensky struggled to guide Ukraine through the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 and faced allegations of political nepotism.
Amid these problems, Zelensky pushed forward legislation that he believed would help Ukraine. One law sought to remove the influence of large business owners from the political scene, part of Zelensky’s campaign promise to reduce government corruption. He also unsuccessfully tried to strike a deal with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, over Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing war in the Donbas region between Ukraine and pro-Russia separatists. However, many Ukrainians disapproved of the young president, and his approval rating dropped to worrisome levels by the end of 2021. However, Zelensky, his country, and the world would soon face more serious problems.
Russia and Ukraine have had close ties throughout history. Many Russians, and pro-Russia Ukrainians, believed Ukraine should be part of Russia. In 2014, Russian forces under Putin invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, formerly a Ukrainian territory. This event led to widespread outrage among Ukrainians seeking national independence. In early 2022, Putin again mobilized Russian military forces with the apparent intention of invading Ukraine. Zelensky called for international assistance from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).
On February 24, 2022, Putin ordered the Russian invasion to commence. Under Zelensky’s leadership, Ukraine met the attack with resilience. When the United States offered to evacuate him, he responded by saying “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” As Ukraine militarized, many people in the country considered their formerly maligned president to be a symbol of hope and resistance against Russia’s seemingly overwhelming military capacity, especially due to his refusal to evacuate. Zelensky made global headlines for his intense dedication to Ukraine and refusal to leave its embattled capital city of Kyiv. He also continually broadcast messages from Kyiv, stirring international condemnation of Russian actions and admiration for Ukraine's resistance, which was able to slow the Russian invasion. After the invasion began, Zelensky also declared martial law in Ukraine; additionally, the month the invasion began, Zelensky applied for Ukraine to join the EU.
The Russian invasion drew widespread condemnation from many countries around the world, including the US and the nations of the EU, and resulted in financial support for Ukraine as well as harsh sanctions against Russia. By November 2022, the United States had contributed $68 billion to help the Ukrainian military defeat Russian troops and US President Joe Biden sought Congress’s approval for additional funds. On December 21, 2022, Zelensky traveled to the United States to give a speech before the US Congress, a trip that required extraordinary security. In his powerful address, he said, “Your money is not charity, it's an investment in global security.”
As the war continued throughout 2023 and into 2024, Zelensky remained a major figure in Ukraine's war effort and also continued to press for aid from the US and other Ukrainian allies. In 2023, Zelensky visited a number of countries throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom, to appeal for aid. In May 2023, he traveled to the Netherlands and visited The Hague, where he appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and expressed his desire for Putin to be held accountable for Russia's alleged war crimes in Ukraine. In September, he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. In December, as US aid to Ukraine stalled in Congress before eventually passing in April 2024, Zelensky again traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with US lawmakers and presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. In October 2024, Zelensky also met with Pope Francis in Vatican City.
Meanwhile, as neither Ukrainian nor Russian forces were able to secure a decisive breakthrough in the war, Zelensky continued to resist calls for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia as part of a peace deal.
During the war between Russia and Ukraine, Zelensky faced multiple attempts on his life. For example, in May 2024, Ukrainian intelligence services uncovered an assassination plot against Zelensky and other leading Ukrainian figures and arrested two colonels in the Ukrainian military for allegedly helping the FSB, Russia's main security agency, formulate this plan. By that time, the UN estimated that over 10,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed in the Russian invasion, along with tens of thousands of soldiers on each side, although exact figures remained difficult to verify. In part due to Zelensky's efforts, Ukraine had also received $230 billion in international aid since the start of the invasion, with the US and EU providing the largest amounts of money and military equipment.
Impact
Due to his unexpected rise to Ukraine's highest political office and leadership of the country following the Russian invasion, Zelensky became one of the most influential, and unlikeliest, European leaders of the early twenty-first century. His career transitioned from a popular comedian to an unpopular politician to a symbol of national strength and pride. Zelensky convinced the United States and other countries to provide monetary aid and weapons to Ukraine. In 2022, Time Magazine named him its Person of the Year.
Personal Life
In 2003 Zelensky married Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska, a screenwriter and an architect who also worked for the Kvartal 95 comedy troupe. The couple had two children: a daughter named Oleksandra and a son named Kyrylo.
Bibliography
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