Volodymyr Zelenskyy

"Zelensky" redirects here. For the surname, see Zelensky (surname).

Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Володимир Зеленський
Zelenskyy in 2024
6th President of Ukraine
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 May 2019
Prime Minister
Preceded byPetro Poroshenko
Personal details
Born (1978-01-25) 25 January 1978 (age 46)
Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
(now in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine)
Political partyIndependent[1]
Other political
affiliations		Servant of the People
(2018–present)
Spouse
​
(m. 2003)​
Children2
Parents
ResidenceMariinskyi Palace
Alma materKryvyi Rih Institute of Economics (LLB)
SignatureVolodymyr Zelenskyy's signature
Websitepresident.gov.ua/en
Volodymyr Zelenskyy's voice
Zelenskyy delivering a joint address to the United States Congress during his 2022 visit to the United States
Recorded 21 December 2022
This article is part of
a series about
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
  • Elections

Media gallery

Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy[a][b][c] (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who is serving as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019, most notably during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, ongoing since 2022.

Born to a Ukrainian Jewish family, Zelenskyy grew up as a native Russian speaker in Kryvyi Rih, a major city of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in central Ukraine. He obtained a degree in law from the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics, but never practised law and pursued a career in comedy and entertainment. He created the production company Kvartal 95, which produced films, cartoons, and TV shows including the TV series Servant of the People, in which Zelenskyy played a fictional Ukrainian president. The series aired from 2015 to 2019 and was immensely popular. A political party with the same name as the TV show was created in March 2018 by employees of Kvartal 95.

Zelenskyy announced his candidacy in the 2019 presidential election on the evening of 31 December 2018, alongside the New Year's Eve address of then-president Petro Poroshenko on the TV channel 1+1. A political outsider, he had already become one of the frontrunners in opinion polls for the election months before he confirmed his candidacy. He won the election with 73.23 percent of the vote in the second round, defeating Poroshenko in the biggest landslide in the history of Ukrainian presidential elections.[5]

Zelenskyy has positioned himself as an anti-establishment and anti-corruption figure. As president, he has been a proponent of e-government and of unity between the Ukrainian- and Russian-speaking parts of the country's population.[6]: 11–13  His communication style makes extensive use of social media, particularly Instagram.[6]: 7–10  His party won a landslide victory in the snap legislative election held shortly after his inauguration as president. During the first two years of his administration, Zelenskyy oversaw the lifting of legal immunity for members of parliament (the Verkhovna Rada),[7] the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession, and some limited progress in tackling corruption in Ukraine.[8][9][10] A poll in May 2021 by the Rating Group gave Zelenskyy the highest trust rating out of all Ukrainian presidents, and ranked him as the second-best president after Leonid Kuchma.[11][12]

During his presidential campaign, Zelenskyy promised to end Ukraine's protracted conflict with Russia, and he has attempted to engage in dialogue with Russian president Vladimir Putin.[13] His administration faced an escalation of tensions with Russia in 2021, culminating in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which is still ongoing. Zelenskyy's strategy during the Russian military buildup was to calm the Ukrainian populace and assure the international community that Ukraine was not seeking to retaliate.[14] He initially distanced himself from warnings of an imminent war, while also calling for security guarantees and military support from NATO to "withstand" the threat.[15]

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy remained in Kyiv, declining international offers to evacuate him from the capital under attack; he declared martial law across Ukraine and a general mobilisation of the armed forces.[16][17] Zelenskyy was named the Time Person of the Year for 2022.[18][19][20][21] He has frequently visited frontline and newly liberated areas,[22][23][24][25][26][27] and has regularly appeared unshaven and wearing an olive-green, military-style shirt instead of a suit.[28]

Zelenskyy's term was originally scheduled to end in May 2024, but the ongoing Russian invasion and the imposition of martial law prevented the regularly scheduled presidential election from being conducted. He is expected to remain president for the duration of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[29] Due to this extension of his term, Zelenskyy is the second-longest serving president in Ukrainian history, after only Kuchma.

  1. ^ Зеленський Володимир Олександрович [Elections of the President of Ukraine 2019]. Central Election Commission (Ukraine) (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  2. ^ Zelinsky, Misha (April 2022). "'No culture, no sports, only fighting': The steel town that forged Volodymyr Zelensky". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b Dickinson, Peter (9 June 2019). "Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: Spelling Confusion Doesn't Help Ukraine". Atlantic Council. Archived from the original on 11 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  4. ^ Mendel, Iuliia [@IuliiaMendel] (10 June 2019). "Dear colleagues, this is the official form of the last name that the President has in his passport. This was decided by the passport service of Ukraine. The President won't be offended if BBC standards assume different transliteration" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2019 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Як змінювався рівень довіри та підтримки Зеленського та його попередників (оновлено)". Слово і Діло (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  6. ^ a b Hosa, Joanna; Wilson, Andrew (25 September 2019). Zelensky Unchained: What Ukraine's New Political Order Means For Its Future (Report). European Council on Foreign Relations. JSTOR resrep21659. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Ukraine Lifts Prosecutorial Immunity For Members Of Parliament". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  8. ^ Peleschuk, Dan (15 April 2021). "Ukraine's anti-corruption effort struggles, but soldiers on". Eurasianet. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  9. ^ Wilson, Andrew (6 July 2021). Faltering fightback: Zelensky's piecemeal campaign against Ukraine's oligarchs (Report). European Council on Foreign Relations. JSTOR resrep33811. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  10. ^ Khalaf, Roula; Miller, Christopher; Hall, Ben (5 December 2022). "FT Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 'I am more responsible than brave'". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Українці визначилися з "найкращим президентом" в історії країни - Рейтинг". LIGA (in Russian). 18 May 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Оцінка президентів: найбільше довіряють Зеленському, найкращим вважають Кучму". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  13. ^ Lutsevych, Orysia (16 November 2021). "Ukraine still backs Zelenskyy despite slow progress". Chatham House. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Conflict in Ukraine". Global Conflict Tracker. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  15. ^ Seibt, Sébastian (18 February 2022). "Military tactics: Zelensky plays both sides in Ukrainian crisis". France 24. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Organisation and Holding of Elections in Post-War Ukraine. Prerequisites and Challenges". Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  17. ^ "Ukrainian parliament approves extending martial law in Ukraine | Ukrainska Pravda". Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Українці визначилися з "найкращим президентом" в історії країни – Рейтинг" (in Russian). LIGA. 18 May 2020. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  19. ^ Як змінювався рівень довіри та підтримки Зеленського та його попередників (оновлено). Слово і Діло (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  20. ^ Оцінка президентів: найбільше довіряють Зеленському, найкращим вважають Кучму. Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  21. ^ Історія президентів України в семи актах – Центр спільних дій. Сentreua (in Ukrainian). 1 December 2021. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  22. ^ Bachega, Hugo; Greenall, Robert (20 December 2022). "Ukraine war: Volodymyr Zelensky visits front-line city of Bakhmut". BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  23. ^ "President Zelensky visits retaken Ukrainian city of Izyum". 14 September 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  24. ^ "President Volodymyr Zelensky visits liberated Kherson". BBC. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  25. ^ Fornusek, Martin (19 February 2024). "Zelensky visits front-line troops in Kupiansk sector". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  26. ^ Arhirova, Hanna (29 March 2023). "Ukrainian president extends tour of war's front-line areas". AP News. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  27. ^ Mazurenko, Alona (18 November 2014). "Zelenskyy visits one of toughest areas of front line, examines situation near Pokrovsk and Kurakhove – photo, video". Ukrainska Pravda. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  28. ^ Heydarian, Richard (8 June 2024). "Zelenskyy, Marcos, and rules-based int'l order". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  29. ^ d'Istria, Thomas (23 May 2024). "Volodymyr Zelensky, a president with no term end". Le Monde. Retrieved 2 June 2024.


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