Volodymyr Zelenskyy

At the age of 17, Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined his local team and won the KVN comedy competition as part of the united Ukrainian team 'Zaporizhzhia-Kryvyi Rih-Transit'.

In September 2003, Volodymyr Zelenskyy married Olena Kiyashko, his school and university mate. Kiyashko worked as a scriptwriter at Kvartal 95.

In July 2004, Zelenskyy and Olena Kiyashko welcomed their first daughter, Oleksandra.

Zelenskyy starred in the feature film Love in the Big City in 2008, and continued his movie career with several other films in the following years.

In January 2013, Zelenskyy and Olena Kiyashko's son, Kyrylo, was born.

Zelenskyy supported the late 2013 and early 2014 Euromaidan movement, which aimed for closer European integration and the ousting of then-President Yanukovych.

In August 2014, Zelenskyy performed for Ukrainian troops in Mariupol and his studio donated ₴1 million to the Ukrainian army, showing his active support for the military during the war in Donbas.

Zelenskyy became the star of the television series Servant of the People in 2015, where he played the role of the president of Ukraine.

The comedy series Svaty, in which Zelenskyy appeared, was banned in Ukraine in 2017, but later unbanned in March 2019.

On 31 December 2018, less than four months from the election, Zelenskyy announced his candidacy for president of Ukraine on the New Year's Eve evening show on the TV channel 1+1, which marked the official beginning of his presidential campaign.

On 16 April 2019, a few days before the election, 20 Ukrainian news outlets called on Zelenskyy to 'stop avoiding journalists', highlighting the importance of transparency and media engagement in the electoral process.

On 19 April 2019, presidential debates were held in the form of a show at Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, providing a platform for candidates to present their visions and engage in public discourse prior to the election.

On 21 April 2019, Zelenskyy won the presidential election with 73% of the vote, marking a significant political shift in Ukraine and reflecting the widespread support he garnered from the electorate.

Zelenskyy wrote on Facebook that 'the border is the only thing Russia and Ukraine have in common', reflecting his firm stance against Russia's actions.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was inaugurated as the President of Ukraine. Various foreign officials attended the ceremony, and Zelenskyy dissolved the then Ukrainian parliament and called for early parliamentary elections.

Zelenskyy restored the Ukrainian citizenship of Mikheil Saakashvili.

Lawmakers refused to include Zelenskyy's key initiative on reintroducing criminal liability for illegal enrichment in the parliament's agenda, and instead included a similar bill proposed by a group of deputies.

On 11 July 2019, Zelenskyy urged Putin to enter into talks mediated by European countries and discussed the exchange of prisoners held by both sides.

The new parliament passed a bill stripping lawmakers of legal immunity, delivering Zelenskyy a legislative victory by fulfilling one of his key campaign promises.

On 8 January 2020, Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut short his trip to Oman owing to the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 plane crash in nearby Iran.

Zelenskyy dismissed Bohdan as head of his presidential administration on 11 February 2020 and appointed Andriy Yermak as his successor the same day.

On 24 March 2021, Zelenskyy signed the Decree 117/2021 approving the 'strategy for de-occupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.'

On 26 November 2021, Zelenskyy accused Russia and Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov of backing a plan to overthrow his government, leading to tensions between the parties.

On 19 January 2022, Zelenskyy urged the country's citizens not to panic amidst growing tensions and appealed to the media to avoid spreading mass hysteria.

On 19 February 2022, Zelenskyy warned the Munich Security Conference about the need for Western nations to abandon their 'appeasement' attitude toward Moscow amidst worries of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On the morning of 24 February, Putin announced that Russia was initiating a 'special military operation' in the Donbas. Russian missiles struck a number of military targets in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy declared martial law. Zelenskyy also announced that diplomatic relations with Russia were being severed, effective immediately. Later in the day, he announced general mobilisation.

On 25 February, Zelenskyy said that despite Russia's claim that it was targeting only military sites, civilian sites were also being hit. In an early morning address that day, Zelenskyy said that his intelligence services had identified him as Russia's top target, but that he is staying in Kyiv and his family will remain in the country.

Zelenskyy has gained worldwide recognition as the wartime leader of Ukraine during the Russian invasion; historian Andrew Roberts compared him to Winston Churchill. Harvard Political Review said that Zelenskyy 'has harnessed the power of social media to become history's first truly online wartime leader, bypassing traditional gatekeepers as he uses the internet to reach out to the people.'

As a condition for ending the invasion, the Kremlin demanded Ukraine's neutrality; recognition of Crimea as Russian territory; and recognition of the self-proclaimed separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.

Zelenskyy expressed willingness to discuss Putin's demands, but not for capitulation. He proposed a new collective security agreement for Ukraine with several countries as an alternative to joining NATO.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša visited Kyiv to meet with Zelenskyy in a display of support for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy called on Russians to emigrate from Russia so as not to finance the war in Ukraine with their taxes.

Zelenskyy declared that 'Ukraine will fight until it regains all its territories', showcasing his unwavering commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Zelenskyy criticized EU leaders for being too soft on Russia and questioned Russia's ability to earn significant revenue from energy sales to the EU.

Zelenskyy addressed African Union representatives and invited African leaders to a virtual meeting, but only four of them attended.

South America's Mercosur trade bloc refused Zelenskyy's request to speak at the trade bloc's summit in Paraguay.

Zelenskyy urged Russians to resist 'criminal mobilization' and criticized Russian commanders for their disregard for the lives of Russian soldiers.

Zelenskyy expressed concern about Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons, stating that it could become a reality and that Putin wants to scare the world with nuclear blackmail.

Zelenskyy entered a bill to the Verkhovna Rada that would officially ban all activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) UOC in Ukraine, indicating his stance on religious matters.

Zelenskyy visited the United States, met with President Joe Biden, and addressed Congress in English. The United States announced the supply of Patriot missiles to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy called on neutral countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to abandon their neutrality and support Ukraine.