Zelensky won his 2019 election with 73% of the vote. Ukraine is under martial law amid its war with Russia, prohibiting new elections originally set for last spring from

Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky was a comedian with no political experience when he announced that he would be running in Ukraine's 2019 presidential election. Six years later, and he is now an embattled wartime leader and a symbol of Ukrainian defiance of Russian aggression.

After Trump called Zelensky a “dictator” and began talks with Russia, even some of Zelensky’s harshest domestic critics have begun defending him.