Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukraine Coin It has never been removed from its airtight case This is a Silver Plated Commerated Coin One Side of the Coin has an image of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in silver with the Ukraine Blue and Yellow Flag in the background With the words "President of the Ukriaine" "Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy" "Justice Freedom" & "In God we Trust" The back has the Ukriaine Coat of Arms and the words "Strong Lover and Peace" and "Ukriane" In Excellent Condition Sorry about the poor quality photos. They dont do the coin justice which looks a lot better in real life The coin is 40mm in diameter, weighs about 1 oz. It has never been removed from its air-tight acrylic coin holder Comes from a pet and smoke free home Would make an Excellent Present for the one you Love or Collectable Keepsake souvenir of a Great Leader Everytime they look at it they would think of you Like all my auctions...Bidding Starts at a Penny with no reserve....Grab a Bargain! Click Here to Check out my Unusual Coins Bid with Confidence - Check My 100% Positive Feedback from over 800 Satisfied Customers I have over 10 years of Ebay Selling Experience - So Why Not Treat Yourself? I have got married recently and need to raise funds to meet the costs also we are planning to move into a house together I always combined postage on multiple items Instant Feedback Automatically Left Immediately after Receiving Payment All Items Sent out within 24 hours of Receiving Payment. Overseas Bidders Please Note Surface Mail Delivery Times > Western Europe takes up to 2 weeks, Eastern Europe up to 5 weeks, North America up to 6 weeks, South America, Africa and Asia up to 8 weeks and Australasia up to 12 weeks Thanks for Looking and Best of Luck with the Bidding!! Also if bidding from overseas and you want your item tracked please select the International Signed for Postage Option For that Interesting Conversational Piece, A Birthday Present, Christmas Gift, A Comical Item to Cheer Someone Up or That Unique Perfect Gift for the Person Who has Everything....You Know Where to Look for a Bargain! XXXX - DO NOT CLICK HERE - XXXX Click Here to Add me to Your List of Favourite Sellers If You Have any Questions Please Message me through ebay and I Will Reply ASAP I have sold items to coutries such as Afghanistan
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Brisbane, Riverside, San Bernardino, Cincinnati and Accra | Ukraine summary Learn about the history of Ukraine and its relationship with Russia By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica • Last Updated: Feb 24, 2022 Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Ukraine. National anthem of Ukraine The instrumental version of the national anthem of Ukraine. Ukraine,
Country, eastern Europe. Area: 233,032 sq mi (603,549 sq km).
Population: (2021 est.) 43,879,000. Capital: Kyiv (Kiev). Ukrainians
make up more than three-fourths of the population of Ukraine; there is a
significant minority of Russians. Languages: Ukrainian (official),
Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, Belarusian, Bulgarian. Religions:
Christianity (mostly Eastern Orthodox; also other Christians, Roman
Catholic, Protestant), Islam. Currency: hryvnya. Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Ukraine
consists of level plains and the Carpathian Mountains, which extend
through the western region for more than 150 mi (240 km). The Dnieper
(Dnipro), Southern Buh (Pivdennyy Buh), Donets, and Dniester (Dnistro)
are the major rivers. The Donets Basin in the east-central region is one
of the major heavy-industrial and mining-metallurgical complexes of
Europe. There iron ore and coal are mined, and natural gas, petroleum,
iron, and steel are produced. Ukraine is a major producer of winter
wheat and sugar beets. Ukraine
is a unitary multiparty republic with one legislative body; its head of
state is the president, and the head of government is the prime
minister. Different
parts of the area that is today Ukraine were invaded and occupied in
the 1st millennium BCE by the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians and
in the 1st millennium CE by the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Avars, Khazars,
and Magyars (Hungarians). Slavic tribes settled there after the 4th
century. Kyiv was the chief town. The Mongol conquest in the mid-13th
century decisively ended Kyivan power. From
the 14th to the 18th century, portions of Ukraine were ruled by
Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. In addition, Cossacks controlled a
largely self-governing territory known as the Hetmanate. Most of Ukraine
fell to Russian rule in the 18th century. In
the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917, most
of the Ukrainian region became a republic of the Soviet Union, though
parts of western Ukraine were divided between Poland, Romania, and
Czechoslovakia. Ukraine suffered a severe famine, called the Holodomor,
in 1932–33 under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Overrun by Axis armies in
1941 during World War II, Ukraine was further devastated before being
retaken by the Soviets in 1944. By the end of the war, the borders of
the Ukrainian S.S.R. had been redrawn to include the western Ukrainian
territories. Ukraine
was the site of the 1986 Chernobyl accident at a Soviet-built nuclear
power plant. In 1991 Ukraine declared independence. The turmoil it
experienced in the 1990s as it attempted to implement economic and
political reforms culminated in the disputed presidential election of
2004; mass protests over the results came to be known as the Orange
Revolution. The effects of the revolution were short-lived, however, and
the country remained divided along regional and ethnic lines. Another
mass protest movement—this one centred on Kyiv’s Maidan (Independence
Square)—toppled the government in 2014. As the interim government
struggled to resolve the country’s dire economic situation, Russian
troops occupied the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea. Shortly
thereafter, in March 2014, Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and
was annexed by Russia. Fighting between pro-Russian separatist militias
and Ukrainian government forces remained ongoing in eastern Ukraine. In
late 2021 Russia began a military buildup along its border with
Ukraine, and in February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. Related Article Summaries Baby Yar Baby Yar summary Article Summary Yalta Conference Yalta Conference summary Article Summary Crimean War Crimean War summary Article Summary Chernobyl disaster Chernobyl accident summary Article Summary Home Geography & Travel Countries of the World Ukraine Ukraine: Facts & Stats By The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica Facts Also Known As Ukrayina Head Of Government Prime Minister: Denys Shmyhal Capital Kyiv (Kiev) Population (2021 est.) 43,879,000 Head Of State President: Volodymyr Zelensky Form Of Government unitary multiparty republic with a single legislative house (Verkhovna Rada1 [450]) Official Language Ukrainian Official Religion none Official Name Ukrayina (Ukraine) Total Area (Sq Km) 603,549 Total Area (Sq Mi) 233,032 Monetary Unit hryvnya (UAH) Population Rank (2021) 34 Population Projection 2030 42,628,000 Density: Persons Per Sq Mi (2021) 188.3 Density: Persons Per Sq Km (2021) 72.7 Urban-Rural Population Urban: (2020) 69.5% • Rural: (2020) 30.5% Life Expectancy At Birth Male: (2019) 66.9 years • Female: (2019) 77 years Literacy: Percentage Of Population Age 15 And Over Literate Male: not available • Female: not available Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000) (2020) 147,691 Gni Per Capita (U.S.$) (2020) 3,540 1Translated as Supreme Council. Ukraine,
country located in eastern Europe, the second largest on the continent
after Russia. The capital is Kyiv (Kiev), located on the Dnieper River
in north-central Ukraine. Ukraine Ukraine Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Swallow's Nest Castle Swallow's Nest Castle Swallow's Nest Castle overlooking the Black Sea, Yalta, Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine. © Mike_kiev/Dreamstime.com A
fully independent Ukraine emerged only late in the 20th century, after
long periods of successive domination by Poland-Lithuania, Russia, and
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). Ukraine had
experienced a brief period of independence in 1918–20, but portions of
western Ukraine were ruled by Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia in the
period between the two World Wars, and Ukraine thereafter became part
of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (S.S.R.).
When the Soviet Union began to unravel in 1990–91, the legislature of
the Ukrainian S.S.R. declared sovereignty (July 16, 1990) and then
outright independence (August 24, 1991), a move that was confirmed by
popular approval in a plebiscite (December 1, 1991). With the
dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in December 1991, Ukraine gained full
independence. The country changed its official name to Ukraine, and it
helped to found the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an
association of countries that were formerly republics of the Soviet
Union. Cultural life Cultural milieu Ukraine
possesses a wealth of cultural talent and a considerable cultural
legacy. Numerous writers have contributed to the country’s rich literary
history. Impressive monuments of architecture and museums displaying
works by generations of Ukrainian artists can be found throughout the
country, and art galleries featuring contemporary Ukrainian artists have
become commonplace in larger urban centres. The country’s strong
tradition of folk art also continues to this day. In addition,
high-calibre performing artists and ensembles appear regularly in
Ukraine’s numerous theatres and concert halls. Because
of the country’s geographical location, Ukrainian culture has been
influenced by the cultures of both western Europe and Russia. Although
these influences are particularly evident in the western and eastern
halves of the country, respectively, there is no strict geographical
division. For example, Russian is spoken in the streets and in many
homes and institutions throughout the country; it also is used in
national publications, radio broadcasts, and popular music. The
country’s other ethnic minorities contribute to a measure of cultural
diversity as well. Daily life and social customs The
social changes brought about by Ukrainian independence are most evident
in the cities, particularly Kyiv. The country’s capital now boasts
high-end stores catering to a moneyed class, and a fashionable strip of
contemporary art galleries and cafés winds its way down the historical
street of Andriyivskyi Uzviz. The capital’s renovated airport stands in
striking contrast to its decidedly dour appearance in Soviet times. The
cities, with their broad sidewalks and extensive greenery, are
eminently suited for walking. Ukrainians generally do a considerable
amount of walking, either to get around or simply for enjoyment. Parks
are plentiful and popular for strolling or picnicking, a common pastime
among city dwellers, most of whom live in apartments. The cities also
feature numerous kiosks, which sell all manner of wares. Cultural
pursuits and entertainment are widespread. Most of Ukraine’s major
cities have ornate theatres with their own opera or ballet companies.
Song-and-dance ensembles, most notably the Verovka State Chorus and the
Virsky Dance Ensemble, have made Ukrainian folk music and dance into an
impressive stage art. Though classical music remains popular,
contemporary Western-style music has expanded its audience considerably
and now dominates the airwaves on numerous commercial radio stations.
Street concerts and club performances are common, as are dance clubs and
cabarets. Imported television soap operas have developed a dedicated
following, and cinemas show American blockbusters. folk dancing in Ukraine folk dancing in Ukraine Folk dancers in traditional dress, Ukraine. © Schamin/Shutterstock.com The
country offers a variety of restaurants that serve Chinese, Greek,
Continental, or other foreign cuisine. Pizza bars and other fast-food
restaurants are increasingly common as well. Many Ukrainians, however,
still prefer such traditional Ukrainian foods as borscht, cabbage rolls,
varenyky (dumplings), studynets (a form of headcheese), and shashlyky
(kebabs). On festive occasions these dishes are accompanied by vodka or
champagne and eloquent toasts. The dish known as chicken Kiev, though
commonly served in Ukraine, likely originated elsewhere. In
the countryside, horse-drawn carts with rubber wheels have not quite
disappeared. The khata (“house”), made of mud and thatch and typically
whitewashed, is still found as well. These homes often contain such
traditional handiwork as embroideries, weavings, and handmade feather
duvets and oversized pillows. Their inhabitants are predominantly
elderly Ukrainians. Ihor Stebelsky Ivan Alekseyevich Yerofeyev Andrij Makuch The arts of Ukraine Literature Written
Ukrainian literature began with Christianization and the introduction
of Old Church Slavonic as a liturgical and literary language. The
literary heritage of the Ukrainian people in the early period, from the
11th to the 13th centuries, is that of Kyivan (Kievan) Rus; sermons,
tales, and lives of the saints were the major genres. After the Mongol
destruction of Kyivan Rus in the 13th century, literary activity in
Ukraine declined. A revival began in the 14th century and was spurred
further in the 16th century with the introduction of printing, the
Reformation ferment, and the advance of the Counter-Reformation into
Polish-dominated Ukrainian lands. The
Ukrainian vernacular gradually became more prominent in writings in the
16th century, but this process was set back in the 17th and 18th
centuries, when many Ukrainian authors wrote in Russian or Polish. At
the end of the 18th century, modern literary Ukrainian finally emerged
out of the colloquial Ukrainian tongue. Nineteenth-century
Ukrainian writers greatly contributed to the reawakening of Ukrainian
national consciousness under the Russian Empire. The classicist poet and
playwright Ivan Kotlyarevsky may be considered the first modern
Ukrainian author. In his work Eneyida (1798), he transformed the heroes
of Virgil’s Aeneid into Ukrainian Cossacks. Classicist prose appeared
only with Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko’s novel Marusya (1834). In
the 1830s Ukrainian Romanticism developed, and such authors as Izmail
Sreznevsky, Levko Borovykovsky, Amvrosii Metlynsky, and Mykola
Kostomarov published works that recognized a particular Ukrainian
culture and history. In western Ukraine, Markiian Shashkevych, Yakiv
Holovatsky, and Ivan Vahylevych constituted the so-called “Ruthenian
Triad” of Ukrainian Romanticism. A markedly different approach was taken
by Nikolay Gogol (Ukrainian: Mykola Hohol), who wrote Romantic works
with Ukrainian themes in Russian and with a “pan-Russian” spirit. The
most important 19th-century Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, treated
Ukrainian history and Russian oppression, as well as broader themes.
Panteleymon Kulish was another significant poet of the period. Marko
Vovchok, who wrote Narodni opovidannia (1857; “Tales of the People”),
ushered in Ukrainian Realism. Many Realist works depicted village life
and contemporary society; some touched on populist themes. Panas Myrny,
with his works on social injustice, became the major representative of
Ukrainian Realism, but the novelists Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky and Ivan
Franko were prominent as well. A
number of competing literary movements emerged during the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, though Realism, exemplified by the prose of
Volodymyr Vynnychenko, remained important. Lesia Ukrainka was a leading
modernist author. The poet Pavlo Tychyna followed the Symbolist
movement; Mykola Bazhan, one of Ukraine’s greatest 20th-century poets,
employed elements of Futurism; and Mykola Zerov, Maksym Rylsky, and
Mykhaylo Dray-Khmara wrote Neoclassicist poetry (see Classicism and
Neoclassicism). During
the early years of Bolshevik rule, talented Ukrainian writers
proliferated. Mykola Khvylovy’s prose was imbued with revolutionary and
national Romanticism, Hryhory Kosynka’s prose was impressionistic, Yury
Yanovsky’s stories and novels were unabashedly romantic, and Valeriyan
Pidmohylny’s work adhered to the principles of realism. In
1932, however, the Communist Party began requiring writers to follow
the theory of Socialist Realism. Many Ukrainian writers who did not
adhere to the official style were imprisoned or executed, particularly
during Stalin’s purges of the 1930s. A new generation of writers, known
as the “Writers of the ’60s,” broke with Socialist Realism in the
post-Stalinist period, but in the 1970s the Communist Party took new
measures to repress literature that deviated from the approved style. With
Ukraine’s independence in 1991 came a rebirth of free literary
expression. Many of the established literary journals continued to
publish, although with far-more-open editorial policies, and a plethora
of new journals appeared as well. Literary journals have provided a
valuable outlet for the work of writers in Ukraine, particularly younger
ones, as the postindependence economic difficulties substantially
limited the publication of books, especially in the realm of belles
lettres. Among the literary talents of independent Ukraine, novelist
Valerii Shevchuk and poet Yury Andrukhovych stand out. Oleksa Eliseyovich Zasenko Stepan Andriyovich Kryzhanivsky Andrij Makuch Visual arts Over
the centuries the Ukrainian people have evolved a varied folk art.
Embroidery, wood carving, ceramics, and weaving are highly developed,
with stylized ornamentation that represents many regional styles.
Intricately patterned Easter eggs (pysanky) have become popular in many
countries that have Ukrainian immigrant populations. With
the introduction of Christianity in the 10th century, the various forms
of Byzantine art (e.g., architecture, mosaics, frescoes, manuscript
illumination, and icon painting) spread rapidly and remained the
dominant art forms through the 16th century. The mosaics and frescoes of
the churches of Kyiv, notably the cathedral of St. Sophia (11th–12th
century), and the icons of the more distinctively Ukrainian school in
Galicia (15th–16th century) are particularly noteworthy. A number of
outstanding churches of this period, notably the cathedral of St.
Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery (early 12th century), were demolished
by the Soviet authorities in the 1930s; only international protests
saved the cathedral of St. Sophia from the same fate. Baroque
architecture had a pronounced impact in Ukraine, and a distinctive
“Cossack Baroque” style developed there. Western European influences in
the 17th and 18th centuries also affected iconography and stimulated
portrait painting, engraving, and sculpture. Western
trends were carried to Russia by Ukrainian artists working there from
the 18th century. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries the
Ukrainian-born sculptor and rector of the St. Petersburg Academy of
Arts, Ivan Martos, and the Ukrainian-born portraitists Dmytro Levytsky
and Volodymyr Borovykovsky were among the leading figures of the St.
Petersburg Classical school of painting. The
classicism and the emergent realism of the 19th century are best
exemplified by the poet-painter Taras Shevchenko. New art movements are
evident in the work of such 19th-century painters as the Impressionists
Ivan Trush, Mykola Burachek, and Aleksander Murashko; the
Post-Impressionist Mykola Hlushchenko; and the Expressionists Oleksander
Novakivsky, Alexis Gritchenko (Ukrainian: Oleksa Hryshchenko), and
Anatoly Petrytsky (see Impressionism; Post-Impressionism;
Expressionism). The
brief renewal of Ukrainian independence in 1918 further fostered
avant-garde trends that reflected a resurgence of Ukrainian national
traditions. Two schools developed: in painting, the Monumentalism of
Mykhaylo Boychuk, Ivan Padalka, and Vasyl Sedliar, consisting of a blend
of Ukrainian Byzantine and Early Renaissance styles; and, in the
graphic arts, the Neo-Baroque of Heorhii Narbut. Modernist
experimentation ended in Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s, however, when both
these schools were suppressed and Socialist Realism became the only
officially permitted style. The
Ukrainian avant-garde was rejuvenated following Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization campaigns of the late 1950s; it consisted
mostly of Expressionists who wanted to illustrate Ukraine’s tragic
modern history. These artists, who included Alla Horska, Opanas
Zalyvakha, and Feodosy Humenyuk, were again suppressed by the Soviet
authorities in the 1970s and ’80s. A
number of Ukrainian artists have won considerable renown in the West,
among them Gritchenko, who began with Cubism and then turned to a
dynamic form of Expressionism, and the painter and engraver Jacques
Hnizdovsky, who developed a simplified style of realism. The sculptor
Alexander Archipenko (Ukrainian: Oleksander Arkhypenko), one of the
pioneers of Cubism who later experimented in Constructivism and
Expressionism, was a major figure of 20th-century European art. Music of Ukraine Folk
music in Ukraine retains great vitality to this day. Ritual songs,
ballads, and historical songs (dumy) were sung a cappella or accompanied
by folk instruments, of which the bandura (a multistringed lutelike
instrument) is the most popular. Itinerant blind musicians known as
kobzars or lirnyks (depending on their instrument of choice) were a
common feature of the Ukrainian countryside until the 20th century. The
hopak, an energetic folk dance composed of leaps and kicks, received
renewed attention in the 21st century as martial arts practitioners
integrated its movements into a self-defense technique based on ethnic
Ukrainian traditions. Church
music was patterned on Byzantine and Bulgarian models with local
variations evolving in Kyiv in the early period. Polyphonic singing had
developed by the 16th century and subsequently was transmitted in the
17th century to Russia, where Ukrainian singers and musical culture soon
won a dominant position. The 17th-century composer Mykola Dyletsky
introduced soprano singers to church choirs and emphasized emotional
expression in his compositions. Ukrainian choral music reached its peak
in the 18th and early 19th centuries in the works of Maksym Berezovsky,
Dmytro Bortnyansky, and Artem Vedel. Secular
music became ascendant in the 19th century. The opera Zaporozhets za
Dunayem (1863; “A Zaporozhian [Cossack] Beyond the Danube”) by Semen
Hulak-Artemovsky gained great popularity, as did Kateryna by Mykola
Arkas and the compositions of Petro Nishchynsky and Mykhaylo Verbytsky.
At the turn of the 20th century, Ukrainian musical life was dominated by
Mykola Lysenko, whose output encompassed vocal and choral settings,
piano compositions, and operas, including Natalka Poltavka, Utoplena
(“The Drowned Girl”), and Taras Bulba. Other major composers of the
period were Kyrylo Stetsenko, Yakiv Stepovy, and Mykola Leontovych, the
latter excelling in polyphonic arrangements of ancient folk music. In
the early years of the Soviet period, several composers produced works
of high artistic merit, particularly Lev Revutsky and Borys Lyatoshynsky
and their contemporary in western Ukraine, Stanyslav Lyudkevych. From
the mid-1930s, however, political regimentation dampened individual
expression and innovation in musical language. Typical among composers
of Soviet Ukraine were Kostyantyn Dankevych, Yuly Meytus, and the
brothers Yury and Platon Mayboroda. An innovative group of modernist
musicians, known as the Kyiv Avant-garde, emerged as a musical force in
the 1960s and ’70s. The best-known composer of the group was Valentyn
Sylvestrov, who composed in the postindependence period as well. Popular
music grew in importance during the last three decades of the 20th
century. The songs of popular composer Volodymyr Ivasiuk, as performed
by the chanteuse Sofiya Rotaru, received wide applause. A form of
popular music known as estrada (stage entertainment) also grew in
popularity. Stage ensembles generally maintained a Europop sound. In the
1980s the Braty Hadiukiny (“Snake Brothers”) band started incorporating
a broader range of contemporary influences into their music. By the
1990s rock, ska, punk, and other popular musical styles were commonplace
in Ukraine. Ruslana Lyzhichko, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in
2004, emerged as the country’s first international star of the 21st
century. Theatre and motion pictures The
theatre originated in Ukraine under Western influence in the 17th
century. Verse dialogue (intermedia) rapidly developed into a specific
genre, the school theatre, whose repertoire expanded to encompass
dramatization of Christian legends, historical drama, and puppet theatre
(vertep) performed on a stage of two levels. The best example of the
Cossack Baroque theatre was the historical play Vladimir (1705) by
Feofan Prokopovich (Ukrainian: Teofan Prokopovych). After a period of
decline, a Ukrainian ethnographic theatre developed in the 19th century.
Folk plays and vaudeville were raised to a high level of artistry by
such actors as Mykola Sadovsky and Mariia Zankovetska in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. A lifting of censorship in 1905 permitted a
significant expansion of the repertoire to include modern dramas by
Lesia Ukrainka (who introduced to the Ukrainian stage both ancient Greek
and Shakespearian techniques), Volodymyr Vynnychenko, and Oleksander
Oles (an innovator in symbolic plays), as well as translated plays. The
real flowering of the Ukrainian theatre occurred between 1917 and 1933.
The Berezil Theatre (1922–33) in Kharkiv, under the artistic director
Les Kurbas, was the most distinguished troupe. Preeminent among the
playwrights was Mykola Kulish, whose Patetychna Sonata (“Sonata
Pathétique”) combined Expressionist techniques with the forms of the
Ukrainian vertep. From the mid-1930s, however, the theatre in Ukraine
was dominated by Socialist Realism, the style enforced by the Communist
Party. Oleksander Korniychuk was the most favoured of the playwrights
writing in the approved manner. Ukrainian
film has achieved some marked successes. The director and scenarist
Aleksandr Dovzhenko (Ukrainian: Oleksander Dovzhenko) was an important
innovator in world cinematography. Several of his works produced in the
1920s and ’30s are considered classics of the silent film era. In later
years, Tini zabutykh predkiv (1964; Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) won
critical acclaim in the West. In the postindependence era, Western
films, dubbed in Ukrainian, were increasingly popular. Ukrainian
directors, on the other hand, achieved particular recognition in the
early 21st century for their work on short films. Among the most
accomplished of those directors are Taras Tomenko, Ihor Strembytsky, and
Maryna Vroda. The Ukrainian motion picture industry is centred in Kyiv
and Odessa. Cultural institutions There
are numerous professional theatres in Ukraine, notably the Ivan Franko
National Academic Drama Theatre in Kyiv and the Mariia Zankovetska
National Academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre in Lviv. Ukraine also has
several opera theatres, numerous symphony orchestras, academic and folk
choirs, and other performing ensembles. Amateur groups of song and dance
are very popular as well. The
Shevchenko Scientific Society, established in 1873, was the main
Ukrainian scholarly body in western Ukraine until it was forcibly
dissolved in 1940, after the Soviet Union occupied the region. It
reestablished itself in western Europe and the United States in 1947,
and in 1989 the society resumed operations in Ukraine. Among its many
activities, the society sponsors conferences and lectures, awards
research grants, and publishes scholarly works, particularly in the
field of Ukrainian studies. Among
the notable museums in the country are the Museum of the History of
Ukraine and the Museum of the Art of Ukraine (both in Kyiv). The Museum
of Folk Architecture and Folkways of Ukraine, an open-air museum in the
village of Pyronovo, preserves elements of 17th- and 18th-century
village life. The National Museum of the Great Patriotic War of
1941–1945 is part of a memorial complex near the Dnieper in Kyiv that
includes the iconic statue Motherland-Mother, which is more than 328
feet (100 metres) tall. Sports and recreation Ukraine
benefited immensely from the Soviet emphasis on sports and physical
education, which left the country with hundreds of stadiums, swimming
pools, gymnasiums, and other athletic facilities. Popular sports include
track and field, volleyball, shooting, basketball, swimming, and
gymnastics. Football (soccer), however, is by far the favourite sport,
and archrivals Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv are two of the country’s
most popular clubs. Ukraine was the cohost of football’s European
Championship tournament in 2012. Chess is also considered a sport. Ukraine football team at the World Cup, 2013 Ukraine football team at the World Cup, 2013 Members
of Ukraine's national football (soccer) team listening to the Ukrainian
national anthem before a FIFA World Cup qualifier game against France
on November 15, 2013, in Kyiv, Ukraine. © katatonia82/Shutterstock.com Ukrainian
athletes excelled in international competitions while representing the
U.S.S.R. Since independence, Ukraine has fielded its own Olympic teams,
featuring such notable gold medal winners as figure skater Oksana Baiul,
heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko (Ukrainian: Volodymyr Klichko),
weightlifter Timur Taimazov, gymnast Liliya Podkopayeva, and swimmer
Yana Klochkova. Klitschko, along with his brother Vitali, dominated the
heavyweight ranks of professional boxing in the early 21st century, and
Vitali used his popularity to launch a political career. Oksana Baiul Oksana Baiul Figure skater Oksana Baiul competing at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, Lillehammer, Nor. Simon Bruty/Getty Images The
country has several national parks, including the Carpathian National
Park and the Shatskyy National Park. Forest parks, located near major
cities, offer picnicking, swimming, hiking, and cross-country skiing.
Some of the larger cities have urban “culture and recreation” parks,
where theatres, lecture halls, reading rooms, and playgrounds are found
amid gardens and wooded areas. Near the city of Yalta is located the
Nikitsky Botanical Garden, in which plants from almost every country in
the world are found. In
Transcarpathia and near the cities of Lviv, Vinnytsya, Zhytomyr, Bila
Tserkva, Poltava, and Kharkiv are health spas noted for their mineral
springs. Spas near the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov specialize in mud
baths. Media and publishing The
demise of the Soviet Union brought fundamental changes to publishing
and broadcasting in Ukraine. The Communist Party’s influence was no
longer a factor, and state control—and funding—receded. As a result,
many established newspapers and journals ceased publication. The print
runs of those that did continue, as private ventures, were in general
considerably smaller. At the same time, numerous new publications and
private television and radio stations emerged during the 1990s. Although
Soviet-era restrictions on content were lifted, publications that were
critical of the local or national administration were subjected to
various forms of harassment—for example, tax inspections, detailed
examinations of registration documents, or libel suits of dubious
credibility. In addition, state broadcasters provided slanted coverage
of political events. Much of this changed in the wake of the Orange
Revolution in 2004. Amid the political turmoil that marked that event
and the period that followed, press freedoms expanded. The election of
Yanukovych as president in 2010, however, led to an increase in official
pressure on journalists, and preferential coverage of the ruling party
was the norm. On the whole, however, the media remain much more open and
credible than they were in Soviet times. The
official news agency is the Ukrainian National Information Agency
(UkrInform), which covers political, economic, cultural, and sports
information. Independent news agencies include Respublika Ukrainian
Independent Information Agency (UNIAR) and the Ukrainian Independent
Information and News Agency (UNIAN). Official
publications include the Supreme Council’s Holos Ukrainy (“Voice of
Ukraine”) and the cabinet’s Uryadovy Kur’yer (“Administrative Courier”).
The largest newspapers include Silski Visti (“Rural News”), a former
organ of the Communist Party; Robitnycha Hazeta (“Workers’ Gazette”);
Ukrainya Moloda (“Ukraine the Young”); and Pravda Ukrayiny (“Truth of
Ukraine”). Other noteworthy periodicals include Den’ (“The Day”), which
publishes editions in Ukrainian and Russian; the influential Zerkalo
Nedeli (“Weekly Mirror”); the English-language Kyiv Post; the weekly
journal Polityka i Kul’tura (“Politics and Culture”); and the
high-calibre literary and cultural review Krytyka (“Critique”). The
National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine regulates
and monitors major television and radio broadcasting companies. Dozens
of television networks are available, either as terrestrial signals or
via cable or satellite. Beginning in 2011, Ukraine’s national networks
switched from an analog television signal to a higher definition digital
signal. Most commercial radio stations are local or regional in nature
and usually feature a contemporary music and talk format. The election of Volodymyr Zelensky and continued Russian aggression In
spite of Poroshenko’s efforts to direct the public conversation in the
months leading to the March 2019 presidential election, official
corruption and the economy remained voters’ key concerns. The race had
initially appeared to be a replay of the 2014 contest between Poroshenko
and Tymoshenko, but the candidacy of television personality and
political novice Volodymyr Zelensky shattered the established order.
Zelensky had portrayed the president of Ukraine in a popular situation
comedy, and he leveraged his massive online following into a serious
campaign against official corruption. Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky, 2019. Sergei Chuzavkov—SOPA Images/Shutterstock.com In
the first round of polling on March 31, 2019, Zelensky won over 30
percent of the vote, and Poroshenko finished second with 16 percent. The
second round was held on April 21, and Zelensky crushed the incumbent
in a landslide, capturing more than 73 percent of the vote. Poroshenko’s
concession speech was marked with a promise that his political career
was not yet over, while Zelensky vowed that his first goal as president
would be to achieve a lasting peace in war-torn eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky took office on May 20, 2019, and used his inauguration speech
to announce the dissolution of parliament and the triggering of snap
legislative elections. Those elections, held on July 21, delivered an
absolute parliamentary majority to Zelensky’s Servant of the People
party. This
confirmation of Zelensky’s mandate allowed him to promote a peace
settlement that would see Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed insurgents
withdraw from the so-called “contact line” in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky’s opponents characterized the move as a capitulation that would
do nothing but legitimize Russian aggression in the Donets Basin and
Crimea, but he retained widespread support from a war-weary public.
While Zelensky endeavoured to focus his months-old administration on
Ukraine’s foreign and domestic challenges, he soon found himself drawn
into a political scandal in the United States. Some
$400 million in military aid for Ukraine had been approved by the U.S.
Congress, but U.S. Pres. Donald Trump put a hold on the funds prior to a
July 25, 2019, phone call with Zelensky. During that call, Trump urged
Zelensky to investigate the son of a political opponent, Democratic U.S.
presidential candidate Joe Biden, who had served on the board of one of
Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies. Over a month later the
military aid was finally released, but, by that point, congressional
Democrats were investigating Trump’s alleged attempt to pressure
Ukraine. That investigation eventually served as the basis for an
impeachment inquiry against Trump that was launched on September 24,
2019. Trump was acquitted by the U.S. Senate in a largely party-line
vote, and he responded by purging senior U.S. government and national
security officials whom he regarded as insufficiently loyal. Lieut. Col.
Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security
Council, was fired, and the post of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine would
remain vacant beyond the end of Trump’s term. Beginning
in 2020, the spread of the coronvrus SARSCoV-2 pandemic led to massive
disruptions of daily life in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian economy took a
sharp hit from lockdowns and the closure of nonessential businesses. The
situation was especially dire in the Donbas, as infrastructure damage
from the Russian-backed insurgency led to serious disruptions of the
water supply. Zelensky’s national mitigation strategy against C19, the
potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, put him at odds with
some local politicians who sought to assert their independence under
2014 government decentralization reforms, and this clash would have a
significant effect on local elections in October 2020. Local parties
dominated mayoral races, while national parties, including Zelensky’s
Servant of the People, struggled. The poor showing in local elections
also reflected an overall decline in Zelensky’s public approval. There
appeared to be little progress on the populist reform agenda that had
swept him into office, and the conflict in the Donbas remained
unsettled. While Zelensky did manage to address the former matter with
the passage of a law intended to curb the influence of oligarchs, the
latter issue would soon devolve into the greatest threat to regional
stability since the end of the Cold War. Between
October and November 2021, Russia began a massive buildup of troops and
military equipment along its border with Ukraine. Over the following
months, additional forces were dispatched to Belarus (ostensibly for
joint exercises with Belarusian personnel), the Russian-backed
separatist enclave of Transdniestria in Moldova, and Russian-occupied
Crimea. By February 2022 Western defense analysts estimated that as many
as 190,000 Russian troops were encircling Ukraine and warned that a
Russian incursion was imminent. Putin dismissed these accusations and
claimed that an accompanying Russian naval buildup in the Black Sea was a
previously scheduled exercise. While Western leaders consulted with
both Zelensky and Putin in an effort to stave off a Russian invasion
that appeared inevitable, Putin issued demands that included de facto
veto power over NATO expansion and the containment of NATO forces to
countries that had been members prior to 1997. This would, in effect,
remove the NATO security umbrella from eastern and southern Europe as
well as the Baltic states. These proposals were flatly rejected. On
February 21, 2022, Putin responded by recognizing the independence of
the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin
ordered Russian troops into Ukrainian territory as “peacekeepers,” and
Russian military activity in the Donbas—ongoing since 2014 but
consistently disavowed by the Kremlin—at last became overt. Western
leaders, pledging solidarity with Ukraine, responded by levying a raft
of sanctions against Russian financial institutions. In the early hours
of February 24 Zelensky addressed the Russian people directly,
delivering an impassioned plea for peace but vowing that Ukraine would
defend itself. Later that day, at about 6:00 AM Moscow time, Putin took
to the airwaves to announce the beginning of a “special military
operation.” Within minutes explosions were heard in major cities across
Ukraine, and air raid sirens began to sound in Kyiv. Around the world,
leaders condemned the unprovoked attack and promised swift and severe
sanctions against Russia. Recent Developments For CFR's full coverage of Ukraine, please visit our topic page. Since
Russia launched a full-scale military invasion into Ukraine on February
24, 2022, fighting has caused over nine hundred civilian deaths and
pushed millions of Ukrainians to flee to neighboring countries—the
majority of whom have arrived in Poland, a NATO country where U.S.
troops are preparing to offer assistance to refugees. In
October 2021, Russia began moving troops and military equipment near
its border with Ukraine, reigniting concerns over a potential invasion.
Commercial satellite imagery, social media posts, and publicly released
intelligence from November and December 2021 showed armor, missiles, and
other heavy weaponry moving toward Ukraine with no official
explanation. By December, more than one hundred thousand Russian troops
were in place near the Russia-Ukraine border and U.S. intelligence
officials warned that Russia may be planning an invasion for early 2022.
In mid-December 2021, Russia’s foreign ministry issued a set of demands
calling for the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) to cease any military activity in Eastern Europe and
Central Asia, to commit against further NATO expansion toward Russia,
and to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO in the future. The United
States and other NATO allies rejected these demands and warned Russia
they would impose severe economic sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine.
The United States sent additional military assistance to Ukraine,
including ammunition, small arms, and other defensive weaponry. In
early February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered around three
thousand U.S. troops to deploy to Poland and Romania—NATO countries that
border Ukraine—to counter Russian troops stationed near its border with
Ukraine and reassure NATO allies. Satellite imagery showed the largest
deployment of Russian troops to its border with Belarus since the end of
the Cold War. Negotiations between the United States, Russia, and
European powers—including France and Germany—did not result in a
resolution. While Russia released a statement claiming to draw down a
certain number of troops, reports emerged of an increasing Russian troop
presence at the border with Ukraine. In
late February 2022, the United States warned that Russia intended to
invade Ukraine, citing Russia’s growing military presence at the
Russia-Ukraine border. Russian President Vladimir Putin then ordered
troops to Luhansk and Donetsk, separatist regions in Eastern Ukraine
partly controlled by Russian-backed separatists, claiming the troops
served a “peacekeeping” function. The United States responded by
imposing sanctions on the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and the Nord
Stream 2 gas pipeline a few days later. On February 24, during a United
Nations Security Council meeting to dissuade Russia from attacking
Ukraine, Putin announced the beginning of a full-scale land, sea, and
air invasion of Ukraine targeting Ukrainian military assets and cities
across the country. Biden declared this attack “unprovoked and
unjustified” and has since issued severe sanctions in coordination with
European allies targeting four of Russia’s largest banks, its oil and
gas industry, and U.S. technology exports to the country. The
United Nations, G7, EU, and other countries continue to condemn Russian
actions and support Ukrainian forces. In an emergency United Nations
session, 141 of 193 member states voted to condemn Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine and demanded that Russia immediately cease its use of force in
Ukraine. The United States has issued escalating sanctions on the
financial assets of Putin and Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister,
removing Russian banks from the global SWIFT financial messaging system,
and banning U.S. imports of Russian oil and natural gas. The U.S.
continues to commit military assistance to Ukraine; following Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Congress on March 16, Biden
announced an additional $800 million in military assistance. Just after
Russia’s invasion, Biden also ordered 7,000 U.S. troops deployed to
Germany. Direct
negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have continued with Russia
announcing in late March 2022 that it would “reduce military activity”
near Kyiv and Chernihiv. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to combat
the Ukrainian counteroffensive in and around major Ukrainian cities,
although the initial Russian invasion has appeared to slow.. Several
Russian long-range missile strikes have caused significant damage to
Ukrainian military assets, urban residential areas, and communication
and transportation infrastructure. Hospitals and residential complexes
have also sustained shelling and bombing attacks. Civilians in
Mariupol–a port city in southeastern Ukraine–have been facing an ongoing
humanitarian crisis with acute shortages of food, water, and heat.
Russian forces have surrounded the city for weeks with aerial
bombardments that have killed hundreds of civilians. Background Armed
conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in early 2014 following Russia’s
annexation of Crimea. The previous year, protests in Ukraine’s capital
Kyiv against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to reject a
deal for greater economic integration with the European Union (EU) were
met with a violent crackdown by state security forces. The protests
widened, escalating the conflict, and President Yanukovych fled the
country in February 2014. One
month later, in March 2014, Russian troops took control of Ukraine’s
Crimea region. Russian President Vladimir Putin cited the need to
protect the rights of Russian citizens and Russian speakers in Crimea
and southeast Ukraine. Russia then formally annexed the peninsula after
Crimeans voted to join the Russian Federation in a disputed local
referendum. The crisis heightened ethnic divisions, and two months later
pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern
Ukraine held a referendum to declare independence from Ukraine. Armed
conflict in the region quickly broke out between Russian-backed forces
and the Ukrainian military. Moscow denied military involvement, though
both Ukraine and NATO reported the buildup of Russian troops and
military equipment near Donetsk and Russian cross-border shelling
immediately after Russia annexed Crimea. The conflict transitioned to an
active stalemate, with regular shelling and skirmishes occurring along
the front line that separated Russian- and Ukrainian-controlled border
regions in the east. Beginning
in February 2015, France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine attempted to
kickstart negotiations and broker a cessation in violence through the
Minsk Accords. The agreement framework included provisions for a
cease-fire, withdrawal of heavy weaponry, and full Ukrainian government
control throughout the conflict zone. However, efforts to reach a
diplomatic settlement and satisfactory resolution were largely
unsuccessful. In
April 2016, NATO announced that the alliance would deploy four
battalions to Eastern Europe, rotating troops through Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, and Poland to deter possible future Russian aggression
elsewhere in Europe, particularly in the Baltics. In September 2017, the
United States also deployed two U.S. Army tank brigades to Poland to
further bolster NATO’s presence in the region. In
January 2018, the United States imposed new sanctions on twenty-one
individuals–including a number of Russian officials–and nine companies
linked to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In March 2018, the State
Department approved the sale of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, the first
sale of lethal weaponry since the conflict began. In October 2018,
Ukraine joined the United States and seven other NATO countries in a
series of large-scale air exercises in western Ukraine. The exercises
came after Russia held its annual military exercises in September 2018,
the largest since the fall of the Soviet Union. Ukraine
has been the target of thousands of cyberattacks. In December 2015,
more than 225,000 people lost power across Ukraine in an attack on power
generation firms, and in December 2016 parts of Kyiv experienced
another power blackout following a similar attack targeting a Ukrainian
utility company. In June 2017, government and business computer systems
in Ukraine were hit by the NotPetya cyberattack, which was attributed to
Russia; the attack spread to computer systems worldwide and caused
billions of dollars in damages. In February 2022, Ukrainian government
websites, including the defense and interior ministries, banking sites,
and other affiliated organizations were targeted by
distributed-denial-of-service attacks alongside the Russian invasion. Concerns The
current conflict has severely strained U.S.-Russia relations and
increased the risk of a wider European conflict. Tensions are likely to
increase between Russia and neighboring NATO member countries that would
likely involve the United States, due to alliance security commitments.
Additionally, the conflict in Ukraine will have broader ramifications
for future cooperation on critical issues like arms control,
cybersecurity, nuclear nonproliferation, energy security,
counter-terrorism, and political solutions in Syria, Libya, and
elsewhere. Volodymyr Zelensky president of Ukraine Alternate titles: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Volodymyr Zelenskyy By Michael Ray • Last Updated: Mar 25, 2022 • Edit History Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky See all media Born: January 25, 1978 (age 44) Kryvyy Rih Ukraine Title / Office: president (2019-), Ukraine Political Affiliation: Servant of the People Role In: Ukraine scandal Volodymyr
Zelensky, also spelled Volodymyr Zelenskyy, (born January 25, 1978,
Kryvyy Rih, Ukraine, U.S.S.R. [now in Ukraine]), Ukrainian actor and
comedian who was elected president of Ukraine in 2019. Although he was a
political novice, Zelensky’s anti-corruption platform won him
widespread support, and his significant online following translated into
a solid electoral base. He won a landslide victory over incumbent Petro
Poroshenko in the second round of the 2019 presidential election.
President Zelensky’s leadership during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
won him global acclaim. Early life and career as an entertainer Zelensky
was born to Jewish parents in the industrial metropolis of Kryvyy Rih
in southern Ukraine. When he was a small child, his family relocated to
Erdenet, Mongolia, for four years before returning to Kryvyy Rih, where
Zelensky entered school. Like many people from Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk
region, he grew up as a native Russian speaker, but he also acquired
fluency in both Ukrainian and English. In 1995 he entered Kryvyy Rih
Economic Institute, the local campus of Kyiv National Economic
University, and in 2000 he graduated with a law degree. Although
Zelensky was licensed to practice law, his career was already headed in
a different direction. While still a student, he had become active in
theatre, and this would become his primary focus. In 1997 his
performance group, Kvartal 95 (“Quarter 95,” the neighbourhood in
central Kryvyy Rih where Zelensky spent his childhood), appeared in the
televised finals of KVN (Klub vesyólykh i nakhódchivykh; “Club of the
Funny and Inventive People”), a popular improvisational comedy
competition that was broadcast throughout the Commonwealth of
Independent States. Zelensky and Kvartal 95 became regulars on KVN, and
they appeared on the program until 2003. That year Zelensky cofounded
Studio Kvartal 95, a production company that would become one of
Ukraine’s most successful and prolific entertainment studios. Zelensky
would serve as artistic director of Studio Kvartal 95 from the company’s
creation until 2011, when he was named general producer of the
Ukrainian television channel Inter TV. Zelensky
left Inter TV in 2012, and in October of that year he and Kvartal 95
concluded a joint production agreement with the Ukrainian network 1+1.
That network was owned by Ihor Kolomoisky, one of the wealthiest people
in Ukraine, and the relationship between Zelensky and Kolomoisky would
become the subject of scrutiny when Zelensky declared his intention to
enter politics. In addition to working in television during this period,
Zelensky appeared in a number of feature films, including the
historical farce Rzhevskiy Versus Napoleon (2012) and the romantic
comedies 8 First Dates (2012) and 8 New Dates (2015). Servant of the People and path to the presidency In
2013 Zelensky returned to Kvartal 95 as artistic director, but his
entertainment career would soon intersect with the seismic events
rocking Ukraine’s political landscape. In February 2014 the government
of Ukrainian Pres. Viktor Yanukovych was toppled after months of popular
protests, and that May billionaire Petro Poroshenko was elected
president of Ukraine. With a Russian-backed insurgency raging in eastern
Ukraine and endemic corruption undermining public confidence in
government, Poroshenko struggled to enact even modest reforms. It was
against this backdrop that Servant of the People premiered on 1+1 in
October 2015. Zelensky was cast as Vasiliy Goloborodko, an everyman
history teacher who becomes a viral Internet phenomenon after a student
films him delivering an impassioned and profanity-laden address against
official corruption. The show was a massive hit, and Goloborodko’s
unlikely path to the presidency of Ukraine would provide something of a
road map for Zelensky. In anticipation of that move, in 2018 Kvartal 95
officially registered Servant of the People as a political party in
Ukraine. With
the Ukrainian economy stalled and Poroshenko’s approval rating
approaching single digits, it seemed likely that the 2019 presidential
election would be a repeat of the 2014 contest, with the incumbent
facing Orange Revolution veteran Yulia Tymoshenko. Instead, more than
three dozen candidates entered the race, and Zelensky emerged as one of
the front-runners virtually from the moment of the declaration of his
candidacy. That announcement was made on 1+1 on December 31, 2018,
preempting Poroshenko’s annual New Year’s address. The provocative move
raised questions about the involvement of 1+1 owner Kolomoisky in
Zelensky’s campaign. Kolomoisky, formerly a staunch Poroshenko ally, had
been living in self-imposed exile since June 2017, after Poroshenko
nationalized PrivatBank, a financial institution that Kolomoisky had
cofounded. Kolomoisky was accused of stealing billions from PrivatBank,
Ukraine’s largest lender, and the Ukrainian government was forced to
inject more than $5.6 billion into the “too big to fail” company to keep
it afloat. Zelensky
took steps to distance himself from Kolomoisky, a task that was
simplified by his unorthodox campaign strategy. He eschewed detailed
policy statements and press conferences in favour of short speeches or
comedy routines posted to YouTube and Instagram. On March 31, 2019,
Zelensky won over 30 percent of the vote in the first round of the
presidential election, and Poroshenko finished a distant second with 16
percent. Zelensky declined to debate Poroshenko until two days before
the second round of polling would begin, and that meeting had all the
trappings of a sporting event. On April 19, 2019, tens of thousands
gathered at Kyiv’s Olympic Stadium to witness the confrontation, and,
although Poroshenko attempted to portray Zelensky as a political novice
who lacked the fortitude to confront Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin, he
failed to land any significant blows against his opponent. A second
debate was scheduled for later in the evening, but Zelensky did not
attend, stating that there “had been enough debates for one day.” Presidency of Ukraine On
April 21 Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine with an impressive
73 percent of the vote. Within days the president-elect faced his first
foreign policy challenge, when Putin announced his decision to offer
Russian passports to the Ukrainian citizens in separatist-controlled
areas of war-torn eastern Ukraine. The Russian-backed hybrid war there
was entering its fifth year, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians had
been displaced by the conflict. Zelensky ridiculed the offer,
responding with a Facebook post that extended Ukrainian citizenship to
Russians and others “who suffer from authoritarian or corrupt regimes.” Early challenges and snap election On
May 20, 2019, Zelensky was sworn in as president. He used his inaugural
address, which he delivered in a mix of Russian and Ukrainian, to call
for national unity and to announce the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada
(Supreme Council). This move was politically necessary: his
presidential victory did not confer a legislative mandate, as Servant of
the People did not occupy any parliamentary seats. Snap elections were
held on July 21, and Zelensky himself characterized the contest as
“maybe more important than the presidential election.” Servant of the
People won an absolute majority, capturing 254 of 450 seats (26 seats,
representing Crimea—a Ukrainian autonomous republic that was illegally
annexed by Russia in 2014—and the war zone in the east, were not
contested). The result marked the first time in Ukraine’s post-Soviet
history that a single party could command absolute control over the
legislative agenda. While
Zelensky worked to build his new administration, ties to his former
business partner again became the subject of scrutiny. Kolomoisky’s
media empire had provided a valuable platform for Zelensky during the
presidential campaign, but Zelensky vowed that no special favours would
be granted by his office. Kolomoisky himself had returned to Ukraine
just days before Zelensky’s inauguration; the billionaire stated that he
would not act as a “grey cardinal,” directing policy from behind the
scenes. Zelensky and U.S. Pres. Donald Trump In
September 2019 Zelensky found his administration thrust into the centre
of a political scandal in the United States when a whistleblower in the
American intelligence community lodged a formal complaint about the
actions of U.S. Pres. Donald Trump. The matter concerned Trump’s alleged
withholding of a significant military aid package to Ukraine unless
Ukraine initiated an investigation of alleged wrongdoing by former U.S.
vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Hunter Biden had served on
the board of Ukrainian energy conglomerate Burisma Holdings, and Trump
claimed, without evidence, that the elder Biden had used his office to
benefit his son. In
April 2019 Biden had announced that he would seek the Democratic
presidential nomination to challenge Trump in 2020, and Biden quickly
became the party’s front-runner. Contacts between Trump’s personal
lawyer, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and Yuriy Lutsenko,
Ukraine’s prosecutor general, began in earnest soon afterward, and they
predated Zelensky’s inauguration. These discussions initially focused
on claims involving the 2016 U.S. presidential election and former Trump
campaign manager Paul Manafort, but they soon expanded to include
Biden. Zelensky’s transition team declined a request to meet with
Giuliani over what they saw as a matter of internal U.S. politics, but
Trump continued to pursue the allegations. In a phone call with Zelensky
on July 25, 2019, Trump discussed an investigation of the Biden family.
Although Trump admitted that he had ordered the aid package withheld in
anticipation of that call, he claimed that no quid pro quo was offered
or demanded. Zelensky
stated that he would look into the Burisma matter, and he sacked
Lutsenko in August. At that time nearly $400 million in U.S. military
aid remained in limbo, despite its bipartisan authorization by the U.S.
Congress. Those funds were finally released on September 11, 2019, but,
by that point, American lawmakers had begun to push for more information
regarding Trump and the details of his July 25 call with Zelensky. That
call and Trump’s alleged attempt to pressure Zelensky served as the
basis for a U.S. House of Representatives impeachment inquiry that was
opened on September 24, 2019. Trump was convicted by the House but
ultimately acquitted by the Senate, and he responded by purging those
officials whom he considered disloyal. This meant the departure of some
of the most experienced Russia and Ukraine experts from the U.S.
national security staff. The COV-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine As
was the case in many countries around the world, daily life in Ukraine
was profoundly affected by the corovirus SARS-CoV pandemic. Zelensky
crafted a national mitigation strategy that was designed to limit the
spread of COV-19, the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus,
but some local politicians resisted direction from Kyiv. Mayors of
several of Ukraine’s largest cities, feeling empowered by the 2014
government reforms that had devolved significant autonomy to the local
level, clashed with Zelensky over proposed business closures and
lockdown measures. The tug-of-war between Zelensky and the mayors would
have a significant effect on local elections in October 2020. Regional
parties dominated mayoral races while national parties, including
Zelensky’s Servant of the People, struggled. The poor electoral
performance also reflected an overall decline in Zelensky’s public
approval. The populist reform platform that had swept him into office
appeared to be stalled, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine remained
unsettled. While Zelensky did manage to jump-start his political agenda
with the passage of a law intended to curb the influence of oligarchs,
the Russian-backed insurgency in the Donbas soon devolved into the
largest threat to European stability since World War II. Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky delivering a video address after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, February 25, 2022. The Presidential Office of Ukraine (CC BY-SA 4.0) In
late 2021 Russia began a massive buildup of troops and matériel along
its border with Ukraine. Additional Russian forces were sent to
Belarus—ostensibly for joint exercises with that country’s military—and a
sizable Russian naval flotilla was assembled in the Black Sea. Western
intelligence agencies stated that the moves were a clear precursor to an
invasion, but Putin denied any such intent. Western leaders carried on
negotiations with both Putin and Zelensky in an effort to prevent the
bloodshed that appeared inevitable, but Russia’s military preparations
continued. On February 21, 2022, Putin announced that he would recognize
the independence of the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk
and Luhansk and dispatch “peacekeepers” to both regions. Western leaders
responded by leveling a new round of sanctions, and, in the early
morning hours of February 24, Zelensky delivered a televised plea for
peace directly to the Russian people. Shortly thereafter, at about 6:00
AM Moscow time, Putin announced the beginning of a “special military
operation,” and Russian cruise missiles began to rain down on targets in
Ukraine. The unprovoked attack drew condemnation from leaders around
the world, and Zelensky tried to rally support from the international
community. Russian troops and armoured vehicles poured into Ukraine from
Russia, Russian-occupied Crimea, and Belarus, and scores of military
personnel and civilians were killed in the first day of fighting. As
world leaders announced increasingly tough sanctions against Russia,
Zelensky tried to rally support from abroad, warning that a “new Iron
Curtain” was descending on Europe. Zelensky
became the face of Ukrainian resistance, and his entertainment
background and media savvy provided Ukraine with a weapon for which
Putin had no counter. In the information war, the winner was
unquestionably Zelensky. After Russian propaganda organs attempted to
promote the false claim that Zelensky had fled the capital, he took to
the street and filmed himself defiantly standing in central Kyiv. When
the United States offered to evacuate him from the combat zone, Zelensky
reportedly said, “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.”
Often clad in an olive drab T-shirt, he delivered video addresses to
governments around the world, calling upon them to provide Ukraine with
military aid and to limit Russia’s ability to wage an offensive war
through whatever means possible. Zelensky’s efforts were largely
successful; although NATO balked at enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine
(such an act would have been tantamount to a declaration of war against
Russia), Western countries flooded Ukraine with antitank weapons and
surface-to-air missile systems. In addition, the sanctions regime that
was leveled against Russia was among the most severe in history, and the
Russian economy reeled as a result. Also Known As Volodymyr Zelenskyy • Volodymyr Zelenskiy Born January 25, 1978 (age 44) • Kryvyy Rih • Ukraine Title / Office president (2019-), Ukraine Political Affiliation Servant of the People Role In Ukraine scandal Photos Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky; Russian invasion of Ukraine See All Images → Related Biographies Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Yanukovych president of Ukraine Poroshenko, Petro Petro Poroshenko president of Ukraine Tymoshenko, Yulia Yulia Tymoshenko prime minister of Ukraine Yushchenko, Viktor Viktor Yushchenko president of Ukraine Kuchma, Leonid Leonid Kuchma president of Ukraine Symon Petlyura Symon Petlyura Ukrainian political leader Leonid Kravchuk president of Ukraine Donald Trump Donald Trump president of the United States Grigory Potemkin Grigory Potemkin Russian statesman Mazepa, Ivan Ivan Mazepa Ukrainian Cossack leader Yana Klochkova Ukrainian athlete Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Khrushchev premier of Soviet Union Gogol, Nikolay Nikolay Gogol Ukrainian-born writer Anatole Litvak Ukrainian-born director Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Brezhnev president of Soviet Union Theodosius Dobzhansky American scientist Vitali Klitschko Ukrainian boxer and politician Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky Russian artist Andrei Chikatilo Soviet serial killer Maya Deren American director and actress |