but where can people go to support you? >> the point of the douglas society is to get 20 percent republican by a 202030 - - i'm sorry >> strong is brave and ready to fight for the life of his citizens and citizens of the world. >> he has been tremendously brave. he is staying with his people. >> he stepped out of the

role of a comedian into the role of a world leader into role of a major shaper of history. his promises to spring peace and fight against corruption, he was reflecting the aspirations of the whole country. >> breaking tonight, largest land war in europe since world war ii, in ukraine. russian voices continue to meet stiffer than expected resistance as they attack capital of kyiv. >> he is the one getting chased. >> russians. >> zelenskyy projected this image that we're not giving up, we'll fight this. and we're going to prevail.

♪ ♪ >> who is volodymyr zelenskyy. you might say more of the stuff of a screen play than a history book. that is not so far off. first time most of the world heard about volodymyr zelenskyy, he was the president of a country under siege, they were told ukraine had no chance against putin's army, 4 weeks leader, zelenskyy and his country men are still hanging on despite a brutal assault, that targeted civilians that including hospitals. and in crosshairs, ukraine president. volodymyr zelenskyy was born in 1978.

in an industrial city that was then under rule of the soviet union. >> not a notable or developed city. a regular soviet city of the late 70s early 80s, his childhood of the probably not very remarkable because of the city he grew up in. >> where zelenskyy grew up was mindless and repressive. this was built along. >> there was a lot of soviet union's most important industry was low called in ukraine. in-- located in ukraine, a lot of their important defense industry and coal mines and steel mills, ukraine was centralized and repressive. even by comparison with other parts of the soviet union.

>> speaking with some of his friends, he was known as an extra vert very smart. >> zelenskyy's parents were jewish. >> zelenskyy originally is russian speaking jew, his grandfather was a veteran of world war ii. many of his relatives were killed. >> now, his family is not particularly religious. the way in which he identifies as a jewish person is more of a cultural way. but certainly it was part of his up bringing. and part of how people perceived him. >> this is important to understand the background of zelenskyy. there was discrimination against jewish culture, every other nationality in soviet union was encouraged

to express the cultural identity, there was a lot of very nasty traditional anti-semitism. >> his father held a professor of computer science, hurricane harvey was 4 years old the family temporarily moved to mongolia. >> they did move for work, mongolia was aligned with the soviet union, this is a natural destination for soviet to go for a few years. he said in some interviews, he rode and horses and played with kids and went to school. >> 4 years later, his family returned home to the ukraine. >> after that, he is with

the generation who grew up in independent ukraine. >> the soviet union was constructed on the basis of national republics whichs voluntarily joined the soviet union. after the fall of the soviet union, ukrainians voted overwhelmingly in all parts of the country to declare their independence. >> his teen years must have been like for everyone in ukraine. years of great upheaval with a lot of changes happening in all ways of life. he must have experienced like everyone in ukraine, economic hardship, but also excitement ofs until

independence. >> in 1995, zelenskyy enrolled in lawsuit, but not to be his life a work. >> soy, i think he started dancing and also acting in high school. and then in university as well did more of it, he studied law, that is a pretty common subject to study in post soviet countries. he didn't end up practicing law at all. >> he was not prepared to work as a lawyer. and understanding what is law and so on. he was interested in comedy. >> that is why where zelenskyy found his voice and calling. >> he had a nice presence

that people liked. >> he started comedy with his friends from the block he lived in. >> i think the level of the human is not very high, not profound. a lot of things about sex, family relations, you know. >> in 2003, he married elena, they would have two children a boy and a girl. then his career took off. >> from end of 90s to 2000, he performed a lot in russia, he was based in moscow with his group. they were touring the post soviet union. they were independent countries at that point but part of same cultural space, they were very popular. >> he was native language is

russian. he was well-known in russia as well. people in russia knew him. >> the height of his popularity, his breakthrough, is dancing with the stars in 2006. he ended up winning. but that is what made him household name. >> in terms of how famous he is in ukraine think of a popular u.s. comedian, will ferrell or someone like that. >> as zelenskyy became ma mature. the comedy became political. >> this criticism was very specific. what is interesting, they worked on different channels, which belonged to oligarchs, they criticized all of the politicians, they were cautious in criticizing

specific oligarch. >> ukraine in aftermath of soviet experience to create workable democratic institution. it didn't work too well. property was seized as it was elsewhere by those who had corrupt connections, they became the ukraine oligarchs, many of those people still control the vast empires. the habits of corruption from soviet union were passed on. >> zelenskyy would later be criticized for associates with oligarchs. then they teamed up with -- who owns several tv stations. >> coming up life imitates art, ukrainian style.

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>> before zelenskyy entered world stage, he entertained ukraine with his comedy and dancing, then a new role in a sitcom lead to the role of a lifetime. >> the mid 2000s.

he gets into more political comedy. when he starts this show called servant of the people, this is where comedy is very political. basically, the idea of this show is that a high school teacher goes to a tirade in front of his students, his students record it. and tie rad is about corruption and mismanagement by the government. he gets accidentally elected president on the strength of his viral video. >> he does the show, yes. this helped him a lot. because in this show. -- the main hero who became president. all others were you want. >> hello.

congratulations, we decided to take your concert to the european union. >> oh, i'm so happy. yes. thank you very much. all ukrainians and all our country, we have been waiting for this so much time. >> servant of the people became most popular show in ukraine, russia aired is too, until zelenskyy's character made a joke about vladimir putin, not the last time the russian president tried to cancel zelenskyy. >> in creating the show, he put in his vision of how ukraine should be governed but i don't think he had plans to run. >> before getting his role into politics, he was a rich person. they were making good money. some people were saying that for him going for presidency was kind of you know trying

some new. i reached everything in my life. we have a popular show, i am rich. why not try something different. because when zelenskyy said i'm going for presidency, actually he was associated with main character of the movie. it created possibility for people from different camps to vote for this guy. because there was no political program. i will be honest, i will serve to the people, that is very -- popular with the people. >> he made promises that people wanted to hear. he did have the backing of one of the oligarchs who controlled a major television station, he got a lot of exposure, he is an appealing personality.

>> main issue ukraine was dealing with was the invasion by russia already in 2014 of the eastern and southern parts. >> one of his main promises to inthe war in the east -- to end the war in the east. >> this happened in 2014. by 2018, ukrainian society is looking for ways to solve the problem. and the president at the time, he was perceived as more of a nationalist ukrainian leader, he emphasized in building up army and ukrainian identity. zelenskyy comes into the campaign by promising slightly different, he will talk to computer putin and try to solve

things. >> i will have decent -- sit down with putin and talk. really crazy things, but people believed him. it was like -- -- >> in first round he got 30% of the vote. when there were multiple candidates, and incumbent president had 60% of the vote. >> what is interesting that zelenskyy was never in involved in any political things. municipal things. without any professional

experience. >> his promises to spring peace and fight against corruption, he was reflecting the aspirations of the country, another thing he did not provide much in the way of detail. >> why do you want to be president? >> he refused to communicate. when he started to answer questions from journalists it was unprofessional people were laughing, so, they decided to stop it. he didn't say a word in interview for journalists, he refused to have official debates. only thing he used was videos. videos, facebook and other things. >> in second round by

definition, because it is two candidates, the winner gets more than 50%. 73% was a rail good outcome. he defeated the incumbent president. >> you had a massive vote against -- >> winning high office does not necessarily mean you are ready to govern.

>> this is a fox news alert, another day of violence in ukraine, as russian troops take up positions in areas north west of kyiv, damage in the area is wide spread, ukrainian soldiers say russian hit them with air and ground bombardment. ukraine president is making a plea for more help. saying hit troops need fighter jets and more tanks. the call for more aid comes amid word of another round

of peace talks, a date for face-to-face is is not yet number. president biden doing damage control after implies vladimir putin should not remain in power, aides say he was not calling for a regime change but pointing out putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors, i'm john -- i'm jon scott. >> in march of 2019, three quarters of ukraine voted for a sitcom star, add a president, they learned volodymyr zelenskyy was not ready for primetime. >> a new guy can make a difference, with a fresh slate. he can do things different. >> he was about to discover that

governing required more than fame. >> he started to realize putin is more intransigent. and also realized as a democratic elected president, he is accountable and has to pay attention to what ukrainians society wants. it becomes clear that ukrainian society does not want to concede too much ground to putin. >> there were people around zelenskyy who made huge his -- mistakes in dealing with putin. >> putin of the not interested in and reasonable resolution. >> zelenskyy made concessions to putin, but putin didn't reaction to them. he demanded more and more.

and he didn't stop shelling. russia is waging war since 2014, they were territories occupied by regular russian army. people around started to understand, that putin is not going to stop shelling, not going to make compromises from the russian side, he hardened his position, he became more . they said zelenskyy is worse than poroshenko. >> he thought he could sit down with putin, and thrash out a deal that would end

the war in eastern ukraine. would bring countries to some kind wave of to live together. >> zelenskyy tries to make some consessions. but he is immediately confronted with protests at home, that signal to him, that he cannot go for significant concessions. ukrainians were not ready to give up the territories that were taken from them by force. and they wanted to fight for these territories. >> i think also with president zelenskyy there was a lot of people who were worried. about what his attempt to make peace with russian would mean, a lot of people lost loved one. that was a pivotal moment for president zelenskyy, he saw people protesting against him on the street, saying he was in danger of

being rail roaded. that was a shock to someone who was used to getting laughs and cheers, that changed his situation with putin as well. >> zelenskyy also didn't help himself in a phone call with donald trump who pushed him to investigate hunter biden, democrats seized on it. >> we have a conversationa many things, i believe ukraine put out a statement yesterday. it was a warm and friendly conversations, i back ukraine from the begin, but i'm upset that other countries are not doing the same. >> we urged zelenskyy don't be involved in the domestic american campaign. do not choose sides.

if we have bipartisan support from the united states, we cannot lose. that inexperience zelenskyy seemed would be involved too much in the campaign in u.s. >> i think worse part of that phone call for ukrainian audience, didn't have anything to do with company trump and biden, but he said in phone call incoming prosecutor general is his person. 100%. his promises about reform had to do with judicial reform. and making the judiciary independent from political . ir. then to hear him -- power to hear them say, i have a prosecutor i control that is what sounded most worrisome

to ukraine audience. >> they were worried about the situation. they depend on americans. >> what got him elected was disillusion with the change of pace under poroshenko. he come in on a wave of popularity. but once he tries to fix some of society's problems, he encounters opposition. and has to make compromises. and then his popularity begins to suffer, there were also things that hinted at corruption. >> there was a lot of fear hes after an instrument for this oligarch who owned this

channel. and his name. he comes in with high expectations on the one hand. but on the other hand, hears he may be an instrument of a powerful oligarch, a figure head of sorts. >> power of old oligarchic corn connections was far from broken, people could argue it was not simple to break those connection. >> there were allegations, unproven that zelenskyy pro protecting th oligarch. >> there is no denying he had ties to the person. but the question was, would he act as his instrument in

government or would he be his own man as president. i think he did prove that he was his own man, and he had his own plan how to reform ukraine that would not go with preferences of one oligarch. >> zelenskyy made huge promises when he was elected. it was clear he couldn 't deliver his promised. >> as the years went by and he was unable to bring about the kind of improvement. his popularity waned. rather than something particularly odious about zelenskyy. >> spring in 2021, a huge increase of russian troops, putin increased it.

he was asked -- >> zelenskyy could hear the war drums, united states had a new president. and if putin attacked what would joe biden do?

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>> volodymyr zelenskyy had a tough start as ukraine leader. he big test was yet to come, a test for president biden too. >> i think you will see is that russia will be held accountable. if it invades, it depends on what it does. if they do what they are capable of doing. >> in january and february. zelenskyy was being well, i'm not worried thing. it is possible he truly done expect an invasion. >> ukraine an gathered here, they are marking a national day of unity. >> that situation, i was

defending zelenskyy. i understand he doesn't want to shake ukrainian economy saying that a war is imminent. >> then volodymyr zelenskyy became a president at war. >> the role of the there. it was waiting for the man. he had the courage to step up to that role. >> president zelenskyy appeared in first appearance wearing a suit and shirt. gain he was calm, he was quite clear about the grave threat, and he made clear ukraine kept fighting and he was staying put, the same day he changed to the green t-shirt, he shifted quickly to become a wartime

hero. >> he is staying with his people, and that really emphasis how different the ukrainian quality is from the russian state. because it exercises that this is a democratic country. where the government is standing with its people, and fighting with its people. >> a wartime leader who knew he was targeted for assassination by putin. >> the waagner group has soy sophisticate combat capabilities.

these people are atrocious. >> what does there is a about zelenskyy here, has dodged a few of these assassination attempts by the waagner group in kyiv. >> he dodged three assassination attempts which reveals that his security services are pretty strong and capable. my heart goes to zelenskyy. i'm worried about him. he needs to be super careful, these people on the hund. hunt. >> they made it clear, russians want to topple zelenskyy, zelenskyy stayed said that makes me target number one, high has been running around with a target on his back. >> the u.s. offered to get him and 4eus his family to save he, he refused to go,

you remember the saying, i don't need a ride, i need ammunition. >> i was shocked and surprised. okay. zelenskyy is doing what he is obliged to do, staying in central kyiv. there were various attempts by different groups to try to kill him. in early days, but they did not have success. i think a lot of ukrainians even opponents, i spoke to people who were supporters of his political opponents who are impressed by zelenskyy's bravely, in the early days, situation has been so fluid. >> inspiring to ukrainians to see their president take the same risks they are

taking and seeing him optimistic, they will prevail in this war. >> the ukrainians needed a statesman who could rally the world as well. >> he stepped out of the role as a comedian to role of a world leader to role of a major shaper of history. >> what would it take for ukraine to win? a lot of help from the west, zelenskyy had to take on international statesman who could rally the world to his cause. that is next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> we should fight on the beaches, we should fight on the landing grounds, we should fight on the fields, in the streets, we should fight in the hills, we should never surrender. >> resolve of churchill kept his country men strong, 82 years later, volodymyr zelenskyy is called

churchhill in a t-shirt. >> we've scener the reality of zelenskyy. >> it is a good comparison, between him and churchhill. you see he since volved in the war effort. it inspires people to also rise to the challenge. and do what they can even in the darkist hour, zelenskyy projected this imagine that we're not giving up, we'll fight this. and we're going to prevail. >> if you want to be -- churchillian you have to win. that is going to be a huge challenge. too early to talk about zelenskyy and churchhillian terms, we don't know where it will end up.

>> he has delivered powerful speeches across the world, trying to get an understanding from them what the fight is about, he painted it as a fight between good and evil. >> they have been inspiring to extent they have galvanized public union in the west to lean toward providing ukraine with as much help as zelenskyy needs. >> to have the leader demonstrate defiance and courage is huge positive. it is all more likely that in the, ukraine will prevail. >> average citizen thinks that zelenskyy has really stepped up to the challenge. his oproval ratings are through the roof.

i think over 90% of ukrainians approve of how he is dealing with the war. i think it will is not clear he will get what he is asking for. but not because he has not been inspiring. i think everyone is inspired. but because it is such a tough decision from the stand point of nuclear escalation on the table, and having been invoked by putin. >> putin's nukes may have frozen western leaders to this point, last week some military expert contemplated the once unthinkable that that ukraine might defeat the russian war machine out right.

>> people of ukraine are inspiring to the world, these are people that say, we refuse to be putin's slaves, this should remind us of how precious liberty and freedom is. how quickly it can be lost. we have freedom and liberty because people were willing to do that for our country here. >> natos say 40 thousand russian soldiers have been killed, captured or missing, one fifth of the whole russian combat force. >> i appreciate, and respect for every ukrainian fighter, every ukrainian soldier. >> there is a story about a kid taking his toy drone to soldier, saying you need this more than i do. giving grandmothers, who down have much money, to try to support the army, people giving food to the army,

organizing, buying, different things the army needs. you have the surviver, approach, from the top down and the bottom up. >> ♪ ♪ >> his resistant will have an affect not just on the future of ukraine, as a nation. but on the future of russia. because everything that putin has done will destablized russia. how is will turn out no one knows. but it is already defined the conflict. in the a way many would not have expected. >> my previous show who is vladimir putin, i closed with a quote from shakespeare.

he has another quote some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them. >> one single -- nato territory. >> do you want putin removed? >> no. >> ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy calling for the peace ahead of