Kyiv: They were political novices till some years ago. Now, they are in the forefront and in charge of defending Ukraine’s capital from falling to Russia.
It’s an uphill task as Russian forces are hellbent on capturing Kyiv, but Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko have vowed to fight every inch of the way.
Zelensky is a former comedian and actor, while Vitali is an ex-boxing world champion.
Zelensky studied law in Kyiv National Economic University and completed a degree course, before pursuing comedy, his passion. He set up a production company called ‘Kvartal 95’, which produced films, cartoons and TV shows. In the immensely popular show ‘Servant of the People’, which ran from 2015 to 2019, Zelensky played the role of Ukraine president.
In 2018, employees of Kvartal 95 launched a political party with the same name as the long-running TV show. Zelensky then announced that he would be running for Ukraine President and won the election in 2019 with a landslide 73% of votes polled.
Leader of a country with a population of 44 million people, Zelensky is currently the number one target of Russia. The 44-year-old politician has, however, vowed to remain in Kyiv, turning down US offer to evacuate the city.
Vitali Klitschko, on the other hand, took the plunge in politics in 2005, when he was an active professional boxer.
The 50-year-old Vitali won multiple world heavyweight boxing championships, making 12 successful title defences.
Vitali, who etched his name in the Guinness World Records with Wladimir as the pair of brothers with most world heavyweight title fight wins, was a leader of Petro Poroshenko Bloc and a Member of Parliament as well.
Since June 2014, Vitali has been Mayor of Kyiv and head of Kyiv City State Administration.
