People
Family, officials, and counterparts — the people around Zelenskyy, described factually.
Olena Zelenska
Zelenskyy’s wife since 2003 (née Kiyashko). An architect and screenwriter who worked with Kvartal 95, she became First Lady in 2019 and has been a prominent wartime public figure — addressing the U.S. Congress in July 2022 and leading initiatives on mental health, education, and the return of deported Ukrainian children.
Andriy Yermak
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine since February 2020, and Zelenskyy’s closest aide. A former film producer and lawyer, he has led Ukrainian negotiating delegations and appeared alongside Zelenskyy in the 26 February 2022 “We are here” video.
Denys Shmyhal
Prime Minister of Ukraine from March 2020 to July 2025 — the longest-serving head of government in the wartime period — overseeing the cabinet through the invasion’s first three years.
Valerii Zaluzhny
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from July 2021 to February 2024, leading the military through the first two years of the full-scale invasion. Dismissed by Zelenskyy on 8 February 2024; subsequently appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Oleksandr Syrsky
Colonel General appointed Commander-in-Chief on 8 February 2024, succeeding Zaluzhny. Previously commander of the Ground Forces, he had led the defense of Kyiv and the Kharkiv counteroffensive.
Dmytro Kuleba
Minister of Foreign Affairs from March 2020 to September 2024, the public face of Ukraine’s wartime diplomacy. Resigned in September 2024 during a wider government reshuffle.
Rustem Umerov
Appointed Minister of Defence in September 2023, succeeding Oleksii Reznikov. A Crimean Tatar politician and former head of the State Property Fund, he had previously led prisoner-exchange negotiations.
Petro Poroshenko
President of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019, defeated by Zelenskyy in the 2019 runoff. A former foreign minister and businessman, he remained a parliamentary opposition figure after leaving office.
Joe Biden
President of the United States from 2021 to 2025. His administration was Ukraine’s largest wartime backer in the invasion’s first phase; he made a surprise visit to Kyiv on 20 February 2023, days before the invasion’s first anniversary.
Boris Johnson
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022. He visited Kyiv in April 2022 — among the first Western leaders to do so after the Russian withdrawal from the capital region — and the UK became a major supplier of military aid during his tenure.
Donald Trump
President of the United States (2017–2021; 2025– ). His 25 July 2019 phone call with Zelenskyy became the center of his first impeachment. After returning to office in 2025, he pursued direct diplomacy with Moscow, including a contentious 28 February 2025 Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy.
Vladimir Putin
President of Russia. Zelenskyy met him once in person, at the 9 December 2019 Normandy-format summit in Paris. Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Source notes
- Official roles and dates: Ukrainian presidency decrees; Verkhovna Rada records; Reuters, AP, BBC.
- Zaluzhny/Syrsky change: presidential decree, 8 February 2024.
- Umerov appointment: Verkhovna Rada vote, September 2023.
- Kuleba resignation: September 2024 government reshuffle, as reported by Reuters.
- Biden Kyiv visit: White House, 20 February 2023.
- Johnson Kyiv visit: UK government, April 2022.
- Trump call: White House memorandum, September 2019.
- This page describes public roles factually; it does not assess performance. See methodology.
- Photograph: Zelenskyy with Olena Zelenska (Ukrainian presidency, CC BY 4.0); see sources.