About Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war with Russia's annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas, and has continued to serve during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2022. Born in Kryvyi Rih into a Russian-speaking Jewish family, Zelenskyy obtained a law degree at the city's Institute of Economics, but instead pursued a career in comedy and entertainment. Zelenskyy co-founded the production company Kvartal 95, which produced films, cartoons, and television shows including the television series Servant of the People, in which he played a fictional Ukrainian president. The series aired from 2015 to 2019 and was immensely popular. A political party with the same name as the television show was founded in March 2018 by Zelenskyy and other associates of Kvartal 95. During his campaign in the 2019 presidential election, Zelenskyy positioned himself as anti-establishment and anti-corruption, and had already been a frontrunner in opinion polls months before he declared his candidacy. He won the election with 73.23 percent of the vote in the second round, defeating incumbent president Petro Poroshenko in the biggest landslide in the history of Ukrainian presidential elections. His party won a landslide victory in the snap parliamentary election held shortly after his inauguration. As president, Zelenskyy has been a proponent of e-government, and of unity between the Ukrainian- and Russian-speaking parts of the country's population. He makes extensive use of social media. During the first two years of his presidency, Zelenskyy oversaw some limited progress in tackling corruption in Ukraine, the ending of legal immunity for members of parliament (the Verkhovna Rada), as well as the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession. A poll in May 2021 by the Rating Group gave Zelenskyy the highest trust rating out of all Ukrainian presidents, and ranked him as the second-best president after Leonid Kuchma. During his early presidency, Zelenskyy attempted to end the war in Donbas by implementing the Minsk agreements through the "Steinmeier formula", and sought dialogue with Russian president Vladimir Putin. During 2021, there was a large Russian military buildup on Ukraine's borders and increased attacks by Russian proxy forces, sparking an international crisis. Zelenskyy said his military would not respond to provocations. He attempted to calm the Ukrainian people and asked for military support from NATO. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy remained in the capital Kyiv as it came under attack, declining international offers to evacuate him. He declared martial law across Ukraine and a general mobilization of the armed forces. There have reportedly been numerous Russian assassination attempts on Zelenskyy since the invasion. During the early peace negotiations, Zelenskyy demanded a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal, said he was willing to discuss Ukraine becoming a neutral country if given "real" security guarantees, and was willing to negotiate the status of Crimea and Donbas. He presented Ukraine's Peace Formula in late 2022, and the Victory Plan for Ukraine in late 2024. After Russia "annexed" southeastern Ukraine, Zelenskyy applied for Ukraine to join NATO. He has frequently visited frontline and newly liberated areas, and met with other world leaders, calling on the international community to support Ukraine's resistance, to provide Ukraine with military aid, and to impose tougher sanctions on Russia to bring an end to its war. As well as visiting Ukrainian troops on the frontlines, Zelenskyy has repeatedly met with other world leaders, calling on the international community to support Ukraine's resistance and its efforts to end Russia's war. Zelenskyy has called for an unconditional ceasefire and negotiations based on a 20-point peace plan. Zelenskyy was named the Time Person of the Year for 2022. In October 2022, a Rating Group poll ranked Zelenskyy the second most outstanding Ukrainian of all time, behind Taras Shevchenko. Zelenskyy's term was originally scheduled to end in May 2024, but the ongoing Russian invasion and the resulting martial law prevents the regularly scheduled presidential election from being held. He is expected to remain president for the duration of the war. Due to this extension of his term, Zelenskyy is the second-longest serving president after Kuchma. Zelenskyy co-created the production company Kvartal 95, which produced films, cartoons, and TV shows including the TV series Servant of the People, in which he played a fictional Ukrainian president. A political party with the same name as the TV show was created in March 2018 by employees of Kvartal 95. He won the election with 73.23 percent of the vote in the second round, defeating Poroshenko in the biggest landslide in the history of Ukrainian presidential elections. His party won a landslide victory in the snap legislative election held shortly after his inauguration as president.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.