On The Front Line In Ukraine, Soldiers Brace To Fight A Silent, Deadly Enemy

More than 13,000 people have been killed since fighting began in April 2014. When he was sworn in as president in May 2019, Zelenskiy also inherited the role of supreme commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces and a grinding war against Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in what is known as the Donbas. One year after Ukraine elected a political novice to lead the country of some 40 million people, RFE/RL takes a look at some of those challenges and how experts believe Zelenskiy has fared: Whether he has delivered on his campaign promises and how he is managing ongoing crises amid the onslaught of the coronavirus. 'Zelenskiy came to this post totally unprepared and he's facing unprecedented challenges.' 'It could have been worse,' says Volodymyr Yermolenko, chief editor of the news site UkraineWorld and analytics director at Internews Ukraine. He also inherited an ongoing war with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, persistent corruption, and the powerful influence of Ukraine's oligarchs, among other issues. President Donald Trump - which stemmed largely from a telephone conversation between the two leaders in July 2019 - and the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 in Iran in January. Zelenskiy has faced a number of scandals and his country has been boxed into matters ranging from the impeachment of U.S. In reality, the first year since the 42-year-old comedic actor's election has been chock full of ups and downs and twists and turns, with plenty of serious criticism over his governing from constituents and international observers, not to mention an array of opponents. More of a public-relations puff piece than a documentary film, it sometimes resembles the sitcom and shines an uncritical light on Zelenskiy's first year in office. The moment is captured in a slickly produced 50-minute video released by his office on April 21, the anniversary of the election. He had just won Ukraine's presidential runoff election with 73 percent of the vote, the largest tally in the country's history. Confetti showered from the rafters and a crowd of supporters erupted in applause. A year ago, a beaming Volodymyr Zelenskiy strolled into his campaign headquarters to the theme song of the popular TV sitcom in which he played an accidental president.

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