Ukraine has recently been in the world’s spotlight as Russia declared war against them. One of the most relevant questions related to this are details about the one leading the defense, Ukraine’s president. He is a seasoned politician who is a former actor and comedian. As of 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a net worth of $1.5 million.
Background
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy was born on January 25, 1978, to a Jewish family. He grew up in the Russian-speaking district of Kryvyi Rih in southeast Ukraine.
His father, Oleksandr, is a teacher at the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics and the director of the Department of Cybernetics and Computing Hardware. Rymma Zelenska, his mother, is a former engineer.
He passed the Test of English as a Foreign Language at the age of 16 and was awarded an educational grant to study in Israel. However, his dad refused to let him go. He went on to get a law degree from the school his father works at.
Entertainment Career
Young Volodymyr joined the local KVN comedy contest group when he was 17 years old. Soon after, he was selected to participate in the united Ukrainian club Zaporizhia-Kryvyi Rih-Transit. They competed in the KVN Major League and won in 1997.
In the same year, he founded and led the Kvartal 95 team. Kvartal 95 began producing TV series for Ukrainian TV channel 1+1 in 2003. In 2005, they transferred to Inter, another Ukrainian TV channel.
Zelenskyy starred in many television shows from 2008 to 2018, including a comedy series titled Svaty that was banned in 2017 but was aired again in 2019.
Political Career
Kvartal 95 members founded the political party Servant of the People in March 2018. In late 2018, Zelenskyy ran a successful campaign to be the sixth president of his nation.
Volodymyr was already one of the leading contenders in opinion polls six months before he announced his candidacy. In 2019, Zelenskyy easily conquered both the first round in March and the run-off elections in April.
On April 21, 2019, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was officially elected as President of Ukraine, defeating incumbent Petro Poroshenko with roughly 73%of the votes.
Defense Against Russia
Even before Russia’s attack in early 2022, the president was making moves to protect his nation. In April 2021, in reaction to Russia’s military expansion along Ukraine’s borders, he spoke with US President Joe Biden and asked NATO to expedite Ukraine’s membership application.
When they were invaded, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is ready to defend itself in an early morning address to his people. He declared a 30-day nationwide emergency, beginning at midnight on February 24, 2022.
Personal Life
Back in 2003, Zelenskyy married Olena Kiyashko, a woman that he went to school with. Oleksandra, the couple’s first child, was born in 2004, and Kyrylo, their son, was born in 2013.
As their country’s president, they live in the Mariinsky Palace. Nevertheless, it is reported that Volodymyr owns at least five houses. He also has five luxury cars, a Tesla, an Audi, a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW, and a Jaguar.
