Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Journey From Ex-Comedian To 'War President'

At the age of 44, Zelensky was made the president of Ukraine after a landslide victory in 2019.

Volodymyr Zelensky started as an actor and would never have thought he’ll be leading the country amidst a war. According to New York Post, Zelensky was one of Ukraine's most popular TV comedians less than four years ago. He starred in a satirical TV show.

At the age of 44, Zelensky was made the president of Ukraine after a landslide victory in 2019. His campaign was also not a usual one and was marked with controversy. Much of his campaigns were backed by Igor Kolomoisky, who is one of Ukraine’s richest oligarchs.

Zelensky is married and has two children. He graduated from Kyiv National Economic University with a law degree in 2000, as per ABC News. However, he chose to pursue a career in acting. He founded a comedy troupe Kvartal 95 in 1997, and by 2003 the group was producing TV programmes. 

It was in 2015, that he starred in a role that paved his way for the presidential office. Zelensky played the role of Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko who is a school teacher who wakes up one day to find out that his rant against corrupt politicians went viral and won him the presidency. The show was known as “Servant of the People”.

This show became so popular that eventually Kvartal 95 created a political party in its name. In 2018, Zelensky announced his presidential candidacy on behalf of the Servant of the People Party. He used his comic talents to mock his opponents in a stand-up routine. He witnessed a landslide victory by taking over 73% of the votes. 

His manifesto included promises to end the war with Russia and its separatist proxies in eastern Ukraine. He joined the office in 2019, but the promise of ending the war with Russia took another route. Though he tried to deal with Putin diplomatically, the Russian leader did not budge, as per an ABC News report.

Now, Ukraine is in the middle of war with Russia. Zelensky has claimed that all the other countries have left Ukraine alone to deal with Moscow.

In a short video address released on Friday, Zelensky said that the Russians “want to destroy Ukraine politically by taking down the head of state.” He further added, “I am staying in the government quarters together with others,” Zelensky said. “The enemy has designated me as target number one, and my family as target number two.”