Historical Figure
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
b. 1978
President of Ukraine since 2019
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Biography
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who, since 2019, has served as the sixth president of Ukraine. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War with Russia's annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas, and has continued to serve during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2022.
In Their Own Words (5)
Немає таких тираній, які б не намагалися обмежити мистецтво, оскільки вони бачать його силу. Мистецтво може розповісти світу речі, які не можуть бути висловлені іншим способом.
Translation: There are no tyrannies that would not try to limit art because they can see the power of art. Art can tell the world things that cannot be shared otherwise. , 2022
I want to see my kids walk the streets without hiding.
Interview BBC (March 26, 2025) , 2025
Without you, Ukraine is going to be lonely.We have proven our strengths, we have proven that as a minimum, we are exactly the same as you are.So, do prove that you are with us, do prove that you will not let us go, do prove that you are indeed Europeans, and then life will win over death, and light will win over darkness.
During a speech to the European Parliament, also quoted on the cover of Time magazine , 2022
Establishing the full truth about the crimes of the occupiers on our independent Ukrainian land is a fundamental prerequisite for bringing Russia to full accountability for its aggression and terror. We must do everything for justice, and I am grateful to those of you who are bringing this day closer, this time — the time of justice.
"President at the events on the occasion of the Day of National Police" (4 July 2023) , 2023
The scariest thing is that part of the world got used to the war in Ukraine. Exhaustion with the war rolls along like a wave. You see it in the United States, in Europe. And we see that as soon as they start to get a little tired, it becomes like a show to them: ‘I can’t watch this rerun for the 10th time.
Quoted by Simon Shuster, in ‘Nobody Believes in Our Victory Like I Do.’ Inside Volodymyr Zelensky’s Struggle to Keep Ukraine in the Fight, Time, (30 October 2023) , 2023
Timeline
The story of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told in moments.
Co-founds Kvartal 95, a comedy production company. Their sketches mock Ukrainian politicians, oligarchs, and corruption. Zelenskyy becomes the most recognizable comedian in Ukraine. He performs in Russian.
Stars in Servant of the People, a TV series where he plays a high school history teacher who accidentally becomes president of Ukraine after a rant about corruption goes viral. The show runs for three seasons. It's fiction. Then it isn't.
Elected president of Ukraine with 73% of the vote in a runoff against incumbent Petro Poroshenko. He runs on an anti-corruption platform using social media instead of traditional campaigning. He's 41 with no political experience.
Russia invades Ukraine across multiple fronts. Russian paratroopers land at Hostomel airport outside Kyiv. The U.S. reportedly offers to evacuate him. His response: "I need ammunition, not a ride." He stays in Kyiv and posts nightly video addresses from the presidential compound.
Visits Washington, D.C., and addresses a joint session of Congress. He presents a battle flag signed by Ukrainian soldiers from Bakhmut. It's his first trip outside Ukraine since the invasion began ten months earlier. He flies home the same day.
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