VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faces Vladimir Putin in the war between Ukraine and Russia. A former TV series actor, Zelensky has impressed many foreign leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, since the start of the crisis.
The former “clown” of Ukrainian television faces the second army in the world. Volodymyr Zelensky has been hammering home his message of unity and combat since the Russian armed forces entered Ukrainian soil on Thursday, February 24, 2022, following a statement by the Russian president Vladimir Poutine. The ex-comedian, who became Ukrainian president in 2020 at the end of a surprise campaign, has surprised since the start of the crisis by the calm displayed in his various interventions, a composure which would have particularly struck Emmanuel Macron during his discussions. At 43, the one who was until then best known for roles in successful comedy shows in Ukraine bursts into the face of the world.
Who is Volodymyr Zelensky? Short biography
Born on January 25, 1978 near Dniepropetrovsk in south-eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky made a career in television, first in game shows and then winning the 2006 season of the Ukrainian version of Dancing with the Stars. In 2015, he caused a sensation in the Servant of the People series where he played a high school history teacher who mistakenly became President of Ukraine. President fighting against corruption, integrity, the character played by Volodymyr Zelensky will greatly increase his popularity. In December 2017, he obtained the transformation of the party Decisive Change Party, founded the previous year and renamed it Servant of the People, playing the analogy with the series which made him famous. At the end of 2018, he declared himself a candidate for the presidency of the republic for the election scheduled for 2019.
Surprise, he crushes his traditional rivals there, obtaining more than 30% of the vote in the first round before clearly beating outgoing President Petro Poroshenko with more than 73% of the vote. He then became the sixth and youngest president of independent Ukraine. Without a specific program, he then intends to relaunch talks with Russia on the situation in the Donbass while continuing the policy of rapprochement with the EU. The dissolution of the Assembly and the legislative elections that followed gave him a large majority. But complex issues and clouds accumulate over his presidency. Donbass war, controversy following a discussion with Donald Trump asking him to investigate the son of Joe Biden, Hunter, a member of the board of directors of a Ukrainian company, criticism of his pro-Russian entourage, management of the Covid-19 pandemic… So many points on which Volodymyr Zelensky is attacked as he tries to accelerate on the external level by relaunching the NATO membership project while proposing a meeting with Vladimir Putin, proposal remained a dead letter. In 2022, faced with a less conciliatory Biden administration, he warned Westerners, especially at the Munich security conference: “For eight years, Ukraine has been a shield. For eight years, Ukraine has held back the one of the largest armies in the world which is massed at our borders and not at those of the EU”, he says then, a few weeks before seeing his country invaded by the Russian armed forces.
Who is Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine?
She is a well-known figure among Ukrainians since the election of her husband Volodymyr Zelensky as head of the Ukrainian presidency in 2019. Olena Zelenska has also appeared on the front line since the start of the crisis between Ukraine and Russia, even speaking on Ukrainian television on the evening of February 24, 2022 in a message of support which could also be seen as a goodbye when Russian forces were already investing the suburbs of the capital, Kiev.
The message of Olena Zelenska, wife of Volodymyr Zelensky, to Ukrainians
Olena Zelenska also multiplied the calls and messages on her Instagram account, especially on the evening of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. “Ukrainian! I am watching you all today, on television, in the streets, on the internet. I see your posts and videos. And you know what? You are amazing! I am proud to live in the same country as you […]. Today I will not panic and cry. I will be calm and confident. My children look at me. I will be next to them. And next to my husband. Together with you. I love you, I love Ukraine”.