Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the street in Kyiv, Ukraine as Russian forces advance into the country. Zelenskyy has vowed that he will stay in Kyiv and fight with the people of Ukraine. (Credit: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy)
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, (Ukrainian: Володимир Олександрович Зеленський, pronounced [woloˈdɪmɪr olekˈsɑndrowɪdʒ zeˈlɛnʲsʲkɪj]; born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician, former actor and comedian who has been serving as the president of Ukraine since 2019. Zelenskyy grew up in Kryvyi Rih, a Russian-speaking region in southeastern Ukraine. Prior to his acting career, Zelenskyy obtained a degree in law from the Kyiv National Economic University. 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. 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 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. During his administration, Zelenskyy oversaw the lifting of legal immunity for members of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession, and some progress in tackling corruption.
Size: 6672px × 3736px
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Photo credit: © American Photo Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: army, communism, communist, defend, defenders, defending, fight, fighters, fighting, hero, heroic, nation, national, nationalism, oleksandrovych, patriot, patriotic, putin, red, russia, russian, ukraine, ukrainian, vladimir, volodymyr, war, warring, zelenskyy
