The 44-year-old Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the helm as Ukraine faces the biggest crisis in Europe since the second world war, was a political novice when he was elected the president in 2019. From experts to Ukrainian citizens, many have pointed how the former comedian has not just risen to the occasion, but has also taken the world by surprise in doing so.
Zelenskyy was born in January 1978 in Kryvyi Rih, once an industrial city in Soviet Union, situated now in southern Ukraine. Born to Jewish parents, he attended school in Kryvyi Rih and spoke Russian, akin to the people of his region.
In 1995, the leader entered Kryvyi Rih Economic Institute – Kiev National Economic University’s local campus – and graduated with a law degree in 2000. He then pursued comedy and created the production company Kvartal 95, which produces films, cartoons, and TV shows including Servant of the People, in which Zelenskyy played the role of president of Ukraine.
The series aired from 2015 to 2019 and was immensely popular. The show, satirising Ukraine’s corruption and portraying a longing for a democratic country, became an instant hit among the Ukrainian people, who were witnessing a tumultuous post-Soviet transition.
A political party bearing the same name as the television show was created in March 2018 by employees of Kvartal 95. Zelenskyy announced his candidacy for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election on the evening of 31 December 2018, alongside the New Year’s Eve address of President Petro Poroshenko on 1+1 TV Channel.
A political outsider, he had already become one of the frontrunners in opinion polls for the election. He won the election with 73.2 per cent of the vote in the second round, defeating Poroshenko. Identifying as a populist, he has positioned himself as an anti-establishment, anti-corruption figure.
As president, Zelenskyy has been a proponent of e-government and unity between the Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking parts of the country’s population. His communication style heavily utilises social media, particularly Instagram. His party won a landslide victory in a snap legislative election held shortly after his inauguration as president.
Zelenskyy promised to end Ukraine’s protracted conflict with Russia as part of his presidential campaign, As the hybrid war in eastern Ukraine raged on, Zelenskyy sought to end the conflict, attempting diplomatic dialogue with Russia. While there were talks, prisoner exchanges, and action aimed at implementing parts of a peace process termed as the Minsk agreements, they were never fully implemented.
A separate hurdle faced the newly elected leader when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his offer of issuing Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens living in separatist-controlled areas of war-torn eastern regions of the country in 2019.
He took a more staunch position when he pushed for Ukraine’s membership to the European Union and the NATO military alliance.
Zelenskyy was also embroiled in a controversy in July 2019 when then United States (US) President Donald Trump asked him for “a favour” during a phone call. The former US president had asked the Ukrainian leader to investigate corruption allegations against his then political rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid. After a whistle-blower publicised the phone call, the president denied any quid pro quo.
