Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy was born in a Jewish family on 25th January 1978 in Kryvyi Rih then in USSR. He is a former actor, comedian, Ukrainian politician, and 6th and current President of Ukraine. His father Oleksandr Zelenskyy, is a professor and HOD of Cyber and Computing Hardware in Kryvyi Rih State University of Economics and Technology. During World War II, his grandfather Semyon Ivanovych Zelenskyy served in Red Army. Zelenskyy grew up as a Russian speaker in Kryvyi Rih and earned a law degree from Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics but he did not work in the legal field.
Acting Career
When he was 17 years old he joined a comedy competition after which he was invited for joining the United Ukrainian team which perform in KVN’s Major League and won in 1997. After which Zelenskyy created a production company ‘Kvartal 95’ which produces TV shows, cartoons, and films. He starred in many feature films such as Love in the Big City, Office Romance, and Our Time. In 2015, he starred in a television series ‘Servant of the People’ in which he played the role of president of Ukraine which made him immensely popular.
Political Career
In 2018, the employees of Kvartal 95 created a political party and named same as the series ‘Servant of the People’. On 31st December 2018, Zelenskyy announced his candidacy for the presidential election of Ukraine, 2019. In March 2019, Zelenskyy said that he want to bring decent and professional people to power. Zelenskyy won the election in both rounds of elections defeating Poroshenko. During the presidential election, Zelenskyy promised to end the conflict with Russia and he also stated that he was running for just one term.
On 20th May 2019, Zelenskyy was inaugurated and different foreign officials attended the ceremony in the parliament of Ukraine, he became the 1st Jewish President of Ukraine
On 11th July 2019, President of Ukraine Volodymir Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephonic conversation, during which Zelenskyy urged Putin to enter in talks mediated by the European countries and they further discussed to exchange the prisoners held by both sides.
Conflict with Russia
In June 2019, Zelenskyy had his 1st official trip as president to Brussels in which he met with NATO and European officials.
The administration of Zelenskyy faced tension with Russia in 2021 which turns into a full-scale invasion by Russia in February 2022. Zelenskyy spoke to the president of the USA Joe Biden and urged him to speed up the request of Ukraine for the membership of NATO in April 2021, after the Russian military build-up near Ukraine’s borders. On 19th February 2022, worries of the Russian invasion of Ukraine grew and Zelenskky asked for security assurances from western nations by saying “Security assurance should be provided to Ukraine in exchange of giving up 3rd largest nuclear arsenal in the world”.
On 24th February, Russian president Putin announced “Special military operation in the region of Donbas. Zelenskyy declared martial law in Ukraine. On the very next day 25th February, Zelenskyy said that he is the top target of Russia still he is going to stay in Kyiv, and for this Zelenskyy turned down the offer of US and Turkish government evacuation assistance and choose to remain in Kyiv with his defense forces and said: “The fight is here, I need ammunition, not a ride”. During this crisis, by his leadership, he gained widespread admiration, as well as Zelenskyy, has been described as the symbol of Ukrainian resistance. Historian Andrew Roberts compared Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy to Winston Churchill. Zelenskyy has been widely described as a global or national hero by many publications as well as commentators.
The Guardian and BBC News reported that Zelenskyy response toward the invasion received praise even from political opponents and previous critics also.
Now Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy became a real-life hero from a reel life hero, but the time has come to save his people from this crisis by diplomatic talks with Russia because this war took Ukraine 20 years back in the field of development and prosperity.
