Page 14 - Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Ukrainian President and Unlikely Hero

into history. I do know one thing: One should act in a way that
doesn’t evoke shame when looking into children’s eyes. . . . This
is what I promise you, the people of Ukraine.” 7

A Wealthy Person Indeed
To Zelenskyy’s delight, Servant of the People turned out to be an
instant and huge hit. An estimated 20 million Ukrainian house-
holds tuned in on their TV sets to watch the show’s rst season.
And as many as 95 million people in Ukraine and surrounding
countries saw those episodes on YouTube, which Zelenskyy con-
tracted with to carry the program. Servant was so popular, in fact,
that in late 2016 Studio Kvartal 95 produced a feature lm based
on it—Servant of the People 2. Moreover, excerpts from the mov-
ie were used in the TV version’s second and third seasons, which
aired during 2017 to 2019.

Zelenskyy’s acting, producing,
and sharing in the pro ts from
1+1 and Studio Kvartal 95 made
him very wealthy. He is shown
here in 2018, during Studio
Kvartal 95’s concert program.