All About Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Zelensky addressed Congress and made a huge impact.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky became a symbol of resistance and heroism for the west almost overnight following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. More than 10 months later, Zelensky has been seen on the frontlines fighting in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, along with troops and conscripted Ukrainian men, to maintain their national sovereignty. Zelensky spoke to the United States Congres on Dec. 21, 2022, delivering a rousing speech and thanking the American government for providing Ukraine with financial aid and weapons in the ongoing war.
According to The New York Times, prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (led by Russian President Vladimir Putin), Zelensky's performance as president was criticized for not doing much to end corruption as well as for essentially laughing off the potential of Russian military action against Ukraine; 62 percent of Ukrainians surveyed at the time didn't want him to run for reelection.
Zelensky is firmly in the global spotlight amid a terrifying second Cold War. Get to know the Ukrainian president and how he rose to power.
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Who is the Ukraine president?
Volodymyr Zelensky (also spelled Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Zelenskiy) is the Ukrainian president. He was born in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. He earned a law degree, but pursued comedy instead, which turned out quite fruitfully for him—he's been compared to Jon Stewart in his political satire. He won a Ukrainian comedy competition and went on to produce and star in numerous films and TV shows with his Kvartal 95 production company. He has been a vocal opponent of Ukraine's bans on Russian artists and as a result has had one of his own films, Love In the Big City 2, banned in his own home country. When Zelensky and his company donated money to the Ukrainian army, some Russian leaders wanted his work banned there as well.
In 2015, Zelensky starred in the TV series Servant of the People, in which he played a teacher who is elected president of Ukraine after a video of him denouncing government corruption goes viral on social media.
Zelensky is a member of the centrist Servant of the People party, named after the television show in which Zelensky starred. The party was previously called the Decisive Changes party. Zelensky previously revealed that Kvartal 95 adopted the Servant of the People name for the party as a means to prevent others with ill intent from using the name for nefarious political purposes.
Zelensky was elected Ukrainian president in April 2019, beating incumbent Petro Poroshenko in a landslide victory. He was inaugurated into office a month later.
Related: How to Help Ukraine and Ukrainian Refugees as Russia Invades
How old is Zelensky?
Zelensky is 44 years old. He was born to Jewish parents on Jan. 25, 1978 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine.
His parents are Rimma Zelenskaya, a former engineer, and Oleksandr Zelensky, a professor and head of the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics Department of Cybernetics and Computing Hardware.
Is Volodymyr Zelensky married? Who is Volodymyr Zelensky married to?
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Zelensky is a married man. He tied the knot in 2003 with Olena Kiyashko (now known as Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska). She is a screenwriter from Ukraine and previously studied architecture at Kryvyi Rih National University. As first lady of Ukraine, she has focused her work on childhood nutrition, gender equality; spreading the Ukrainian language around the world; and the "Without Barriers" initiative, which focuses on eliminating physical and social barriers to success and health.
She said in a statement (translated from Ukrainian), "During quarantine, millions of people experienced complete or partial isolation. We all felt barriers. In fact, without even realizing it, we all participated in a social experiment at the same time - as in our society, in our cities and villages. to live with people with limited mobility, mental and physical differences. For most of us, this is not forever. But there are people nearby for whom these barriers will never disappear. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are constantly living behind the barriers that everyone has now felt. "
Zelensky posted this sweet selfie with Olena amid the Russian invasion.
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Where does Volodymyr Zelensky live?
Though Zelensky has spent the bulk of the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the frontlines in Kiev, he obviously doesn't spend his peacetime talking to the streets in fatigues. He resides in Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, the ceremonial presidential home for Ukraine—essentially, their version of the White House. The palace is situated in the same compound as Verkhovna Rada building, where Ukraine's parliament meets.
Who was the president of Ukraine before Zelensky?
Since 1991, there have been six presidents of Ukraine, plus one interim acting president. In order, they are:
Leonid Kravchuk (1991-1994)
Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005)
Viktor Yushchenko (2005-2010)
Viktor Yanukovych (2010-2014, was removed from office during Ukrainian Revolution); Oleksandr Turchynov (was interim acting president from February 2014-June 2014)
Petro Poroshenko (June 2014-2019)
Volodymyr Zelesnky (2019-present)
How do you pronounce Volodymyr?
Volodymyr Zelensky's name is actually spelled pretty close to its phonetics in English. You can pronounce his name as "Vo-low-dim-eer Zell-ins-kee." You can hear the pronunciation of "Volodymyr Zelensky" in the clip below.
Does Volodymyr Zelensky speak Russian?
Zelensky grew up as a native Russian speaker.
Does Volodymyr Zelensky speak English?
Zelensky is fluent in English as well as Ukrainian.
Does Volodymyr Zelensky have a child?
Zelensky has a son and a daughter with wife Olena. Daughter Sasha was born in 2004. The couple welcomed son Kyrylo in January 2013. Sasha has followed in her father's entertainment biz footsteps, appearing with him in a 2014 film called 8 New Dates and winning a comedy contest.
Related: Meghan and Harry: ‘We Stand With the People of Ukraine’
What are some Volodymyr Zelenskyy movies and TV shows?
Zelensky's screen credits include:
D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (2005)
Igor in No Love In the City (2009)
Igor in No Love In the City 2 (2010)
Novoseltsev in Sluzhebnyy roman. Nashe vremya (2011)
Napoleon in Corporal Versus Napoleon (2012)
Veterinarian Nikita Sokolov in 8 pervykh svidaniy (2012)
Skazochnaya Rus (2012)
Igor in Love In Vegas (2014)
Nikita Sokolov in 8 novykh svidaniy (2014)
Lyubov v bolshom gorode 3 (2014)
Christo News (2014)
Nikita Sokolov in 8 luchshikh svidaniy (2016)
President Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko in Servant of the People (2015-2019)
Maksym Tkachenko in Me. You. He. She. (2018)
He also appeared on Ukraine's version of Dancing With the Stars, and the man can cut a rug with the best of them.
What is Volodymyr Zelensky's net worth?
Zelensky's net worth has been estimated at about $1.5 million as of 2018.
What is Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Instagram?
You can follow Zelensky on Instagram at @zelenskiy_official. He has been documenting the war with Russia on his account, which currently boasts over 12 million followers.
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Next, watch Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s emotional videos from his war-torn native Ukraine.