A role in a satirical television show eventually served as the springboard for Volodymyr Zelensky's campaign to become Ukraine's president. Here's how he went from being a TV star to the Kremlin's 'target number one.'
Volodymyr Zelensky approached a lectern under bright lights, preparing to deliver a message to the Ukrainian people.
"Today I will start with long-awaited words, which I wish to announce with pride," he said."Finally," he continued."Ukraine is United ... This is our victory."The speech was fiction. It is from the closing scene of"Servant of the People," a satirical TV show about a down-on-his-luck high-school teacher, played by Zelensky, who is thrust into the Ukrainian presidency after his rant about corruption goes viral.
CNN to Russian FM: Do you plan to decapitate Ukrainian leadership? 03:04Putin's comments are unlikely to spur any sort of Ukrainian uprising. Many of Kyiv's residents have left the city, and those that remain are unlikely to support him, considering Ukraine's last pro-Russian leader was ousted in a popular uprising in 2014.Zelensky was elected five years later, thrashing incumbent Petro Poroshenko, but his tenure has been rocky.