On February 28, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy reportedly told British Prime Minister Johnson that he thought the next 24 hours would be crucial for Ukraine. He posted on social media that the Ukrainian side agreed to negotiate with the Russian side on the border between Belarus and Ukraine.
Since the situation in Russia and Ukraine heated up, Zelenskiy, who is at the center of the whirlpool, has been questioned many times, and the extraordinary president's only political experience before the election was that he played the role of president in film and television dramas.
Is it really possible for the actor-turned-president to quell the Russian-Ukrainian dispute?
In the late 1990s, Zelenskiy, a Russian speaker in his early twenties, studied law in his hometown of Krivlich, a small town in southern Ukraine.
Vladimir Zelenskiy: I don't want to be a lawyer or a serious prosecutor. No, that's not what I want. I want to continue to be a student and build a small theater at the same time — more like a comedy theater, a small comedy theater.
After leaving the college campus, Zelenskiy left his law major behind and jumped into the comedy industry.
Fast forward to 2014, zelenskiy was busy recording a new TV comedy, Servant of the People, in which he played a history teacher who won the election for president by mistake for fighting corruption.
The first season of the show aired on the local Ukrainian TV channel "1+1" in 2015 and was loved by viewers. Ukrainian audiences will laugh heartily, because the comedy pokes at the corruption of Ukrainian politics everywhere: the political oligarchy has the final say, "money can make ghosts grind".
Stills from the TV series "Servant of the People"
The palace that Yanukovych once built for himself became the filming location for the TV series, which is also the official residence of the president played by Zelenskiy.
Ukrainian activist Mikhailo Gernakov: It looks like a big wooden house, a little strange, but it is not at all strange to mention why he (Yanukovych) stole and misused so much money.
In 2015, the subject fit well in Ukraine, when just a year after then-President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from office, his property problems and disloyality to the state were subsequently exposed.
Zelenskiy, who plays the president
Zelenskiy starred in the second season of the TV series "Servant of the People", which topped the ratings list as soon as it was broadcast in 2017.
Wilfrid Gilger, an expert on Ukraine: In the TV series, you can see that the genealogy of political power depicted in the film and the novel has a lot of similarities with the real world, in which although the names of Tymoshenko and Poroshenko are not mentioned, there are indications that these characters in the play refer to them!
Subsequently, the production company of the TV series took it to a higher level. In March 2018, they registered the name "Servant of the People" as a new Ukrainian political party and will nominate their own presidential candidates for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election!
The party's presidential candidate was None other than Zelenskiy, who became the hottest Ukrainian presidential candidate almost overnight.
Ukrainian social activist Mikhailo Zernakov : He is like a blank piece of paper on which everyone can write their hopes, dreams and even everything.
Unlike Zelenskiy's presidential campaign in film and television, which is crowdfunded, the Popular Servants Party is funded by Ukrainian media tycoon Ikhol Kolomoisky, the owner of the TV channel "1+1".
Zelenskiy during the debate
On April 19, 2019, two nights before the official elections, a public debate was held at the Kiev Olympic Stadium. Then-President Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelenskiy engaged in a fierce confrontation. The actor and political amateur Zelenskiy gave a speech in public.
Zelenskiy fell to his knees in the debate: Now I am ready to kneel before every wife who is waiting for her husband to return from the expedition, and I invite everyone to do so with me.
In the end, Zelenskiy won the race by an absolute margin, pocketing 73% of the vote.
Marie Menderas, political scientist at Sciences Po: Zelenskiy was never a politician, and not is. He succeeded because he had the support of several powerful media leaders and political oligarchs who funded his campaign and let the media support Zelenskiy and oppose Poroshenko.
Zelenskiy's election was influenced by the oligarchy, but it was his "ordinary people fighting corruption" who attracted voters.
Kiev Street Passers-by: I expect the Zelenskiy era to be free, despite the lack of faith. I look forward to a man who can seek rights and freedoms for the people.
In his presidential inaugural address a few years ago, Zelenskiy said his priority was to bring peace to the Donbass while ending the conflict with Russia. The two republics, signed by Putin on February 21 to recognize independence, are located in the Donbass region, where disputes continue.
Will Zelenskiy be able to carry out his mission and put an end to the dispute between Russia and Ukraine?
Watch Phoenix Vision
"The War Has Arrived: Ukraine in the Great Power Game"
Broadcast Time:
Episode 1 February 28 at 17:30
Episode 2 March 1 at 17:30
Editor: Wang Dingyao