Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the 6th President of Ukraine, in office since May 2019, preceded by Petro Poroshenko. He was previously in the entertainment industry pursuing comedy and producing films or series. In the war crisis against Russia, he is the only person who can end this conflict. But now the Russian has almost invaded Ukraine and has backed away from war warnings.
Early life
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was born on January 25, 1978 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. His parents’ names are Rimma Zelenskaya and Oleksandr Zelensky. His parents are Jewish. He has not shared any details about his siblings with the media. His grandfather named Semyon Ivanovych Selenskyy served in the Red Army during World War II.
Zelenskyy completed his primary education and lived where his father worked, in the Mongolian city of Erdenet. He also completed his high school education but has not revealed any details. He later went to the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics and earned a law degree. But he didn’t go into the legal field.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy career
Zelenskyy started his career by joining the KVN team in a comedy competition and winning in 1997 KVN Major League. He later focused on building his career in the entertainment industry. From 2006 to 2019 he appeared in many series and films. Some of the projects he has worked on are Dancing with the Stars (Ukraine), Svaty, Servant of the People, Love in the Big City, Office Romance, Our Time, 8 First Dates, Love in Vegas and many more projects.
After working at Servant of the People, he expressed interest in a political career and decided to pursue it. He wanted to bring professional, decent people to power and change the mood and tone of the political establishment worldwide as much as possible. In 2018 he led a successful presidential campaign.
Political Career
In 2019 he announced his candidacy for the Ukrainian presidential election. On April 21, 2019, he defeated President Petro Poroshenko with 73% of the vote. His first major proposal was to change the electoral system, which was rejected by the Ukrainian parliament. On July 21, 2019, his political party won the first single-party majority in Ukrainian history with 43% of party list votes in parliament. This means that 254 of 424 seats were occupied by his party.
During his presidency, he met with presidents of various countries to discuss peace and trade. On August 29, 2019, the Honcharuk government was formed. He dismissed Bohdan as head of his presidential administration and appointed Andriy Yermak. The next year he was seen with his family in Oman, staying at Al Bustan Palace. He went there to attend meetings, to spend quality time with his family, and expenses were made from his personal account. He kept his Oman trip shot due to the Ukraine International Airline Flight 752 plane crash near Iran.
On March 24, 2021 he signed Decree 117/2021 approving the strategy for the dissolution and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. That same year he visited the US and held high-level talks with President Joe Biden. He also went to Silicon Valley and met with tech companies like Apple Inc., Stanford University and met with the California National Guard. While he was giving a speech at the United Nations, an assassination attempt was attempted and his driver was hospitalized with three gunshot wounds as he was the closest aid.
Russia-Ukraine Crisis
In 2021/22 there was a Russian-Ukrainian crisis. In April 2021, a Russian military stood on Ukraine’s borders and he spoke to Joe Biden to urge NATO members to expedite Ukraine’s bid for membership.
On November 26, 2021, he accused Russian and Ukrainian oligarch Riant Akhmetov of plotting to overthrow his government. The next month he called for preventive action against Russia. The public panicked at the threat of war, so he released a video message to avoid panicking.
The Russian invasion endangered Ukraine’s economy, something Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden disagreed. As the invasion grew, Zelenskyy appealed to give up and move toward Moscow. In return, the country was also assured security guarantees for the abandonment of the third-largest nuclear arsenal.
He reacts to this situation very calmly and the public does not like his attitude in the way he acts, as he does not expect a conflict with Russia. According to the New York Times, he is overwhelmed as he cannot handle this situation well. They are also running out of options while the Russians order more troops.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Social media
Zelenskyy is active on various social media platforms. He uses social media to express his views and opinions on current events around the world. In April 2019 he joined Twitter and has gained 496.3 thousand followers. On his Instagram account, he has 9.4 million followers and 197 followers. He also owns a YouTube channel where he has 656,000 followers.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi biography | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy |
| date of birth | January 25, 1978 |
| Age (as of 2022) | 44 years |
| place of birth | Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine |
| nationality | Ukraine |
| job | President of Ukraine |
| religion | Christianity |
| sun sign | Aquarius |
Physical Statistics | |
| height | in feet inches – 5′ 7” – in centimeters – 170 cm |
| Weight | in kilograms – 72kg – in pounds – 158 pounds |
| shoe size | 8 (USA) |
| Hair color | dark brown |
| eye color | dark brown |
| body type | average |
Family | |
| father | Oleksandr Zelensky |
| mother | Rimma Zelenskaya |
| sister | – |
| Brothers | – |
Qualification/Education | |
| school | – |
| University | Kyiv National University of Economics |
Relationship status | |
| marital status | Married |
| Who is Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s wife? | Olena Selenska |
| children | Two (Aleksandra Zelenskaya & Kiril Zelenskiy) |
Personal life
Volodymyr is married to Olena Kiyashko. They both first met while attending the same school and were married in September 2003 in an intimate wedding ceremony. In July 2004 they were blessed with a daughter named Oleksandra. Later in January 2013 their second child named Kyrylo was born.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his fortune
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has earned a lot from his political career. He was also previously an actor, earning mostly from his projects and brand promotions. According to sources, his net worth was estimated at around 37 million hryvnia, which equals $1.5 million.
Facts About Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- His father is a professor and head of the department of cybernetics and computer hardware at the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics.
- His mother used to work as an engineer.
- He passed the English as a foreign language test and received an educational scholarship to study in Israel, but his father would not allow him.
- In the TV series Svaty he worked as a producer.
- He is fluent in Russian, Ukrainian and English.
- In 2016, his daughter took part in a show called The Comedy Comet Company Comedy’s Kids and won 50,000 hryvnia.
- Polish President Andrzej Duda was one of the first European leaders to congratulate him.
- In the Trump-Ukraine scandal, Zelenskyy denied all the rumours, saying that he had been pressured by Trump and stated that he did not want to interfere in foreign elections.
- In 2020 he tested positive for Covid-19 and was in the hospital for three days.