August 27, 2024 — This definitive boxset series tells the extraordinary story of Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian who played the president, then became the real President of Ukraine…

Told across three episodes, the series charts Zelensky’s journey from young actor and entertainer to one of the most recognisable leaders on the planet, presiding over a nation at war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Filmed over several trips to Ukraine, Series Director Michael Waldman is granted rare access to interview President Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska, who speak in unguarded terms about their extraordinary lives. What emerges is a portrait of a young couple plunged into an extraordinary situation – childhood sweethearts who got married and rose to stardom, before being thrown into politics, and into the heart of the biggest invasion in Europe since World War II.

As well as interviews with the family and their inner circle, the series includes new accounts from world leaders including Boris Johnson, Nancy Pelosi, former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, and Advisor to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak, who each give dramatic first-hand testimony of their dealings with Zelensky – and Putin – in the lead up to a full-scale military invasion.

Combining exclusive interviews with extraordinary archive footage never before broadcast in the UK, the series sheds new light on the origins of the war in Ukraine and the two men at its epicentre: Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Zelensky Story, a 3×60 for BBC Two and iPlayer, was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual, and the BBC Commissioning Editor is Simon Young, Head of History. Produced by 72 Films in partnership with the OU, the series is made by a multi-award winning team: Series Director Michael Waldman, Executive Producers David Glover and Jonathan Smith, Producer Jecca Powell and Producer/Director Louis Lee Ray.

Watch The Zelensky Story on BBC iPlayer from 4 September at 6am. Watch on BBC Two weekly from 4 September at 9pm.

President Zelensky, Key Quotes

On his dreams as a child [episode 1]

“I was very free. It’s the end of Soviet Union. Young people, what they want? They want to be free, they wanted to see the planet. And to go where? Everywhere. You just want to meet, speak, and your eyes are big, and of course, I wanted to find me in this big world. Of course my parents wanted me to be, you know, er, calm, to be calm, yes, and to study and that’s it. I found time for everything. [Laughs] Freedom, it’s a great thing, freedom.”

On meeting his wife, Olena [episode 1]

“One of the best, I think, moments in my life, when I met my wife. I just looked at her and I think I just loved. I saw her at school.”

On Putin’s psychology: [episode 2]

“Putin, I think he’s not alone, I think there are some – some similar guys in the world, but not everybody has such, you know, such chance for their selves. To open all their, you know, negative or all their evil dreams. Yes. That is the problem, that the West didn’t recognise him before, and didn’t stop him.”

On being a comedian, then the president: [episode 3]

“I brought from those times to this job, this communication with the people, because you have to try. I really loved people, because I communicated with them. And if you don’t love, you will be tired….”

On making decisions which are likely to lead to the death of men and women [episode 3]

“That is the most difficult, the biggest difficulties in my life. Because when I – when you -make some such decisions, for me it’s difficult always. I have a lot of questions to myself. And there are some questions on which I didn’t get ‘til now answers. All these questions are about life. I saw this – I remember these people, a lot of them. I saw a lot of parents, a lot of them. I gave orders, golden stars for the heroic deaths of these – of the children, or of their husbands and wives, and that – that’s a big, big challenge for me, I think the biggest one.”