Nearly five years after taking office on an anti-corruption mandate, Volodymyr Zelenskyy leads a nation still locked in war with Russia. Born January 25, 1978, in the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih into a Russian-speaking Jewish family, he earned a law degree at the local institute of economics but chose entertainment instead.
He co-founded the production company Kvartal 95, which created television shows, films, and cartoons. The comedy series “Servant of the People,” in which he played a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president, aired from 2015 to 2019 and became a hit. That fiction turned into reality in April 2019 when Zelenskyy won the Ukrainian presidency with 73 percent of the vote on an anti-corruption platform, defeating the incumbent president in the largest electoral landslide in Ukraine’s history.
He took office on May 20, 2019. A political party bearing the same name as the television show had been founded in March 2018 by Zelenskyy and his associates.
In the snap parliamentary election that followed his presidential win, his party also secured an overwhelming majority. During his first two years in office, Zelenskyy oversaw limited progress in tackling corruption, ended legal immunity for members of parliament, and managed the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From Peace Efforts to Full-Scale War
In the early period of his presidency, Zelenskyy sought to end the war in the Donbas, a conflict that had killed thousands and displaced many more after Russia annexed Crimea and began an invasion of the region five years before he took office. He pursued dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin and worked to implement the Minsk agreements. During 2021, a large Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s borders and increased attacks by Russian-backed forces sparked an international crisis.
That buildup preceded the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022. Zelenskyy remained in Kyiv as Russian forces approached the capital, a decision that made him a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
According to the record, he has since addressed numerous foreign parliaments and international organizations, including the United Nations and the U.S. Congress, to request military aid. His wartime leadership transformed his reputation both at home and abroad.
Diplomatic Reorientation and Domestic Strains
Under Zelenskyy’s leadership, Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September 2022. The European Union granted Ukraine candidate status in June of that year. These moves represent a fundamental shift in Ukraine’s foreign policy orientation.
Zelenskyy has consistently called for peace talks with Moscow but insists on the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders, including Crimea, as a condition for negotiations. This position remains a central tenet of his negotiating stance.
Zelenskyy’s approval ratings surged to over 90 percent in 2022, reflecting the rally-around-the-flag effect common in nations under direct attack. By late 2023, according to polls, those ratings had declined to around 60 percent. He has faced challenges in managing wartime corruption and military strategy. The dismissal of Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in September 2023 marked a significant personnel change, as the government sought to address concerns over procurement and accountability in the defense sector.
The trajectory of Zelenskyy’s leadership now depends on several factors: the course of the war, the sustainability of Western military and financial support, and Ukraine’s ability to manage internal governance challenges while under invasion. As the conflict grinds on, the president who stayed in Kyiv faces the task of maintaining both international backing and domestic confidence.
Zelenskyy, a former comedian who played a president on television, now leads his country through its gravest crisis since independence. His wartime decisions, including the dismissal of his defense minister, reflect the pressures of managing a conflict while fighting corruption and maintaining public support. The full-scale invasion transformed his presidency, but the challenges that defined his early tenure—anti-corruption, governance reform, and the unresolved conflict in the Donbas—remain central to his leadership amid ongoing war.
