Volodymyr Zelenskyy

**Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy** (; born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, actor, comedian and director. He is the President of Ukraine since 2019.

Zelenskyy played the role of President of Ukraine in the hugely popular 2015 television series _Servant of the People_. The political party _Servant of the People_ was created in March 2018 by people from the TV production company Kvartal 95 who also created the TV series of the same name.

Zelenskyy ran for president as a populist and anti-corruption candidate in the 2019 election. He defeated incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in a landslide victory, winning 73.2% of the vote.

## Early life

Zelenskyy was born 25 January 1977 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian SSR in a secular Ukrainian Jewish family. His father, Oleksandr Zelenskyy, is a professor at the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics. His mother, Rymma Zelenska, worked as an engineer. Before going to school Volodymyr lived for four years in Mongolia where his father worked at that time.

Zelenskyy earned a law degree from the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics. He fluently speaks Ukrainian and Russian.

## Acting career

In 2008, he starred in the feature film _Love in the Big City_, and its sequel, _Love in the Big City 2_. Zelenskyy also played the main role in the movie _Office Romance, Our Time, Rzhevsky Versus Napoleon, Love in the Big City 3, 8 First Dates,_ etc._._

In 2015, Zelenskyy became the main actor of the popular Ukrainian television series _Servant of the People_, where he played the role of the President of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy also voice dubbed Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian language settings of _Paddington_ and _Paddington 2_.

## Presidency

Zelenskyy was the front-runner in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election. Six months before he announced his candidacy on 31 December 2018, he was already one of the frontrunners in opinion polls for the election.

In September 2019 it was reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had pressured Zelenskyy during a July phone call between the two Presidents to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. This led to the Trump–Ukraine scandal and the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump which would result in Trump's impeachment.

During 2021–2022, Zelenskyy's administration faced intense tensions with Russia and President Vladimir Putin. This led to the launch of an ongoing full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Zelenskyy's strategy during the Russian military buildup was to calm the Ukrainian population and work with the international community that Ukraine was not going to fight back. At first, he distanced himself from warnings of a future war, while also wanting security guarantees and military support from NATO. After the start of the invasion, Zelenskyy declared martial law across territory of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy became well known around the world during the invasion as the wartime leader of Ukraine. He has been compared to Winston Churchill. He is seen as a national hero or a "global hero" by many political commentators and newspapers.

In December 2022, Zelenskyy along with the Spirit of Ukraine were named Time Person of the Year.

## Personal life

In September 2003, Zelenskyy married Olena Kiyashko. They have one daughter and one son. Zelenskyy's first language is Russian, and he is also fluent in Ukrainian and English. His net worth is about 37 million hryvnias (about US$1.5 million) in 2018. According to Forbes Magazine dated April 21, 2022, in an article titled "President Zelensky is not a billionaire. So how much is he worth?" Zelensky was worth roughly $20 million, based on reporting by Forbes Ukraine. _Additional reporting by Forbes US puts that number at less than $30 million._

## Other websites

- Official website
- Kvartal 95

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- **image**: Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May 2024 in Ukraine on the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Official portrait, 2024
- **native name lang**: uk
- **order**: 6th
- **office**: President of Ukraine
- **primeminister**: Volodymyr Groysman
Oleksiy Honcharuk
Denys Shmyhal
Yulia Svyrydenko
- **term start**: 20 May 2019
- **predecessor**: Petro Poroshenko
- **birth name**: Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy
- **birth place**: Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine)
- **education**: Kyiv National Economic University
- **party**: Independent politician, Independent
- **otherparty**: Servant of the People (political party), Servant of the People (2018–present)
- **children**: 2
- **signature**: Autograph-VolodymyrZelensky.png