Meet President Volodymyr Zelensky

The images of Russia’s unprovoked attack on neighboring Ukraine have been horrific — but the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, 44, is gaining worldwide popularity for standing up to his oppressors. Which leaves many wondering: Who, exactly, is he? Far from being a career politician, Zelensky spent most of his life in show business as an actor and comedian before winning the populist vote by a landslide in 2019. (He also won Ukraine’s version of Dancing With the Stars in 2006.) Married to comedy writer Olena Zelenska, 44, and dad to Aleksandra, 17, and Kiril, 9, he’s now digging into his role as an antiestablishment and anti-corruption political figure who refuses to flee his country. “As you attack, it will be our faces you see, not our backs,” he boldly announced to Russia on the day of the invasion.