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Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the President of Ukraine. He has led the country's response to Russia's full-scale invasion since it began in February 2022.
Zelenskyy was elected president in 2019 with a decisive majority, defeating incumbent Petro Poroshenko. His early presidency focused on anti-corruption measures, e-government reforms, and efforts to bridge Ukraine's Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking communities, alongside diplomatic attempts to resolve the conflict in Donbas.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, he has remained in Kyiv, declined offers of evacuation, and become a prominent figure in mobilising international military and diplomatic support for Ukraine, including through Ukraine's Peace Formula and later Victory Plan.
He was named Time's Person of the Year in 2022 and, with his original term extended under martial law, is currently Ukraine's second-longest serving president.
Before entering politics, Zelenskyy trained as a lawyer but pursued a career in comedy and entertainment. He starred in the television series Servant of the People, in which he played a fictional president, a role that later inspired the political party of the same name.
