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Oleksandr Skakun
23rd President of Silkland
In office
12 November 2010 – 1 January 2021
Preceded byOwen Shaker
Succeeded byMauro al-Wahid
Personal details
BornPresident of Silkland
(1966-10-25) 25 October 1966 (age 58)
Ramo, Ormond, Silkland
DiedPresident of Silkland
Resting placePresident of Silkland
Political partyLabor
Spouse
​
(m. 1991)​
Children3
Parent
  • President of Silkland
EducationEnsign University (LLB)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Lawyer

Oleksandr Mikhailovich Skakun (born 25 October 1966) is a Silklandy politician and lawyer who served as the twenty-third president of Silkland from 2010 to 2021.

Born to a Ukrainian Jewish family, Skakun grew up in Ramo, the capital city of Ormond in eastern Silkland. Prior to his political career, he obtained a degree in law from Ensign University. After working for ten years as an attorney, Skakun was urged by his friends and family to consider running for public office, given his passion for public service. He successfully ran for Senate in 2000 and quickly built up a reputation in the Silkland Chamber as a fierce advocate for the working class, teachers, the LGBT community, and people with disabilities.

In 2006 he was nearly unanimously selected by his Chamber colleagues as the Leader of the Labor Party, with Skakun himself being the only Labor senator to vote for somebody else. As the leader of the Majority party, Skakun assumed the role of Chair of the Senate, making him the fourth most powerful person in Silkland. After the 2010 Silklandy general election crisis and subsequent Miðlandy invasion of Silkland that led to the deaths of then-President Owen Shaker and then-Vice President Emma Wong, Skakun became the 23rd president of Silkland as the designated survivor in the presidential line of succession on 12 November 2010, also making him the first Jewish president of Silkland. He chose his close friend and confidant Liberal-Democrat Party senator Laura Fletcher to be his vice president.

After the start of the invasion, Skakun declared martial law across Silkland and a general mobilisation of the armed forces. His leadership during the crisis won him widespread international praise, and he has been described as a national hero.[1][2] After the conclusion of the war at the Dublin Summit on 23 July 2011, Skakun shifted his administration's focus to rebuilding and healing the country. Skakun successfully ran for election in 2015 against Nihæmur Party candidate Mauro al-Wahid, Liberal-Democrat candidate Stephen Blonsky, and Riśkal Party candidate Kjartan Einarssón, winning 61.36 percent of the national vote, the second-widest margin of victory for a presidential candidate in the country's electoral history; Helen Lynch's 1995 victory, in which she won 62.15 percent of the vote ranks first. al-Wahid revealed in 2021 that when he called to congratulate him on his victory, Skakun told him, "Thank you, my friend. And in five years, I'll be the one congratulating you."

Skakun's second term was seen as a significant period of prosperity for Silkland up until the COVID-19 pandemic. Skakun's handling of the pandemic once again found him receiving acclaim from the international community. An independent study in 2022 estimated that Skakun's COVID policies likely saved millions of lives. During the 2020 Silklandy elections, Skakun controversially broke with his party and chose to endorse Nihæmur Party candidate Mauro al-Wahid for president instead of Labor Party candidate Hildur Þórsdóttir, citing al-Wahid's background as an epidemiologist being more important than party politics. Thanks in part to his endorsement, al-Wahid was elected as the 24th President of Silkland.

Since leaving office Skakun has kept a low political profile, preferring to stay out of the spotlight so he can focus on humanitarian endeavors. In 2022 Skakun published his memoirs, A Brighter Sky, which became an international bestseller. Skakun was named the Time Person of the Year for 2011 and 2020, and he was awarded the Harrier Cross in 2021, the highest award bestowed by the Silklandy government. Historians have consistently ranked him as one of Silkland's greatest presidents, with some considering him one of history's greatest world leaders.[3][4][5][6]

Early life

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Oleksandr Mikhailovich Skakun was born to Ukrainian Jewish immigrant parents on 25 October 1966 in Ramo, Ormond, the second of three brothers.[7][8][9][10] His father, Mikhail Ivanovich Skakun, was a school teacher; his mother, Daniela Federivna Skakun (née Kovalenko), served in the Silklandy Navy for fifteen years.[11][12][13] Skakun grew up in a Ukrainian-speaking household and attended a bilingual Silklandyn-English public school, and is fluent in all three languages. Skakun lived in a loft apartment with his parents, an older and younger brother, three aunts, and four uncles until leaving for college. When he turned eighteen, Skakun registered as a member of the Labor Party.

Skakun attended law school at Ensign University where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1989. After graduating, Skakun returned to his home province of Ormond and began working as a disability rights attorney for a local law firm before choosing to open up his own private practice in 1992, where he would expand out into education and environmental law. During this time, Skakun's passion for humanitarianism and social justice led many of his friends and family to suggest he run for public office.

Silklandy Senate (2000-2010)

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Junior senator from Ormond (2000-2005)

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On 1 September 2000, Skakun declared his intention to run for the Labor Party nomination for the 2000 election in Ormond for the Silklandy Senate and won in an unexpected landslide. In the 2000 general election, Skakun defeated five other candidates to become the Junior Senator from Ormond, winning 41% of the vote. Skakun held assignments on the Senate Committees for Health, Education, Environment, and Labor. During his first two years, he introduced two bills that were eventually signed into law: the Amberson Act, which made it illegal for private schools to refuse admission to students on the basis of disability, and Flóki's Law, which legalized gender-affirming care under federal law. At the time, seven out of ten provinces explicitly banned the practice (with the exception of mental health care).

On 15 March 2003, Skakun spoke on the floor of the Senate Chamber to vocally oppose Silkland joining or supporting the coalition to invade Iraq in 2003, arguing that the continued conflict with Miðland should be the country's sole military priority. During his speech, Skakun held up photographs of wounded and disabled veterans who were injured in the line of duty while securing the Silkland-Miðland border wall and shouted, "I demand to know why our government has bottomless pockets whenever the United States wants a war, yet can't spare the cash to take care of our own men and women protecting our border!" His passionate speech garnered a lot of press and media attention and the phrase "bottomless pockets" became an oft-used expression among political reporters and pundits.

In October 2003, Skakun began hosting monthly town hall meetings in schools and libraries around the province of Ormond, a practice that was typically reserved for members of the Lower House, not the Chamber. Attendance at these town halls was high and Skakun would often ask attendees for their email addresses so he could respond to their questions and concerns after the venues would close. Skakun's approachability and congeniality made him a rising star in the Labor Party and ignited speculation about a future run for the presidency. When asked in 2004 if he was planning to run for president next year, Skakun flatly denied he had any interest in the position, stating that the work he was doing as a senator was far more meaningful for him.

Chair of the Senate (2006-2010)

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During the 2005 Silklandy general election, Skakun was re-elected with a staggering 84 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory for a Senate candidate in Ormond's history. On the first day of the 2006 Chamber, Skakun was elected by his peers as the Labor Party Senate Chairman by a vote of 7–1. Consequently, as the chairman of the majority party in the Silkland Chamber, Skakun became the Chair of the Silklandy Senate, the fourth highest-ranking lawmaker in the country. In an interview with The Big Scrum, Skakun once again denied any interest in running for the presidency in the future, saying he would be ready and eager to throw all of his support behind any of his Labor Party colleagues in 2010.

As Chair of the Senate, Skakun supervised junior lawmakers in both the Senate and the Lower House and helped faciliate and organize all Chamber-wide meetings and hearings, on top of his duties as a senator for Ormond. Due to his more senior position, Skakun made fewer personal appearances during monthly town hall meetings in Ormond, but still continued to respond to all letters and emails personally. Despite initial misgivings about his new role, Skakun quickly took to the position and used his closer access to the Owen Shaker administration to get stronger, higher-tier support for his most important legislative goals and objectives. Despite being good friends with Vice President Rafe Mohammed, Skakun had a rocky and tense relationship with President Shaker, which only worsened over time.

In November 2009 after news broke that Shaker verbally attacked and disowned his son Ryan for coming out as gay, Skakun published an open letter in The Times condemning the president for his behavior. The president fired back on Twitter, chastising Skakun for attacking him over something that wasn't meant to become public. The Silklandy Nationalist minority caucus harshly criticized Skakun as well and attempted to have him formally censured by the Senate and the Lower House, but there was not enough support in either for it to even come to a vote. During a press interview later that month, Skakun once again refused to apologize for what he wrote, saying, "To leave an unjust action unchecked is to allow injustice to be done. I will never apologize for challenging bigotry when I see it." Shortly after the interview went viral on social media, Skakun's office received a deluge of letters, emails, and phone calls from LGBT citizens thanking him for standing up for the community. The Silklandy LGBT magazine The Tribe described him as "the most powerful queer ally in government since President Helen Lynch."

2010 election crisis

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Despite pressure from his Labor Party colleagues, Skakun refused to run for the presidency, once again explaining that the work he was doing was too important to him. During the 2010 Silklandy general election, Skakun formally endorsed Labor Party candidate Jared Heilemann. When asked about his opinions on the Nihæmur nominee Seth Kurland, who was gaining popularity at breakneck speed, Skakun praised Kurland. "Seth is a very good man and a skilled politician. I would welcome his leadership with open arms." Skakun's senate seat went unchallenged in the 2010 election and he was therefore re-elected by default.

After the protests broke out in the days following the election, Skakun announced that he had begun investigating the allegations of election tampering that had been reported. He established a multi-party investigatory committee on 5 November 2010. Just three days later, the bodies of Seth Kurland, his running mate Mitch Dallas, and their families were all discovered at Dallas's home in Bennett, Winchester. The identity of their assailant has never been uncovered. Skakun would write years later in his memoirs that he began to suspect foreign involvement early on when several of President Shaker's most loyal allies demonstrated total compliance with the investigation and started turning up evidence that pro-Kurland ballots had been discarded. While on the surface it appeared that the president and his supporters engineered the election steal, it would come to light months later that it was a Miðlandy operation, in coordination with high-ranking officials in the Silkland Domestic Forces, Shaker's private military police commission, to destabilize the government of Silkland and mount an invasion and annex the country.

In the early morning hours of 12 November 2010, Skakun was on a trip to Burwell, Chessik to interview several election officials who witnessed unauthorized personnel handling uncounted ballots. At 07:19 (local time), Skakun's security detail was notified of shots fired at the Presidential Complex and immediately moved him to a secure location in the basement of the hotel. Skakun and his entourage officially learned of Vice President Emma Wong's apparent suicide at 07:31 after her lead security officer found her dead in her hotel bathtub in Gossia, the capital city of Miðland. At 08:12, Skakun was notified of President Shaker's murder just minutes after video of his death was uploaded to social media. With no vice president, no secretary of state, and the apparent winner of the 2010 election Seth Kurland having been assassinated, Oleksandr Skakun immediately became the 23rd President of Silkland as the designated survivor in the presidential line of succession just as Miðlandy fighter jets began bombing Silkland City. Based on metadata from the video of Shaker's murder, Olek Skakun became acting president at 08:10. In accordance with the Silklandy Constitution, with no living president-elect by 12:00 local time on January 1 following an election during wartime, acting president Skakun officially began his first term.

Presidency

[edit]
Presidential styles of
Oleksandr Skakun
Reference styleDólin mev, o'Fóssen i Zilkland.
"His Excellency, the President of Silkland"
Spoken styleFóssen i Zilkland.
"President of Silkland"
Alternative styleHerra Fóssen.
"Mr President"

The Second Gossic War (2010-11)

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First phase: Invasion of Silkland (12 November – 1 December)

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Though he had already legally assumed the role of the presidency the second that Owen Shaker died, Oleksandr Skakun took the oath of office at 08:25 on 12 November 2010 in the basement of the Burwell Marriott Hotel. As soon as news of Shaker's death had reached his entourage, his chief of staff learned that a federal judge was sleeping in the same hotel and sent security to fetch her. Skakun chose to be sworn in on a copy of the Constitution of the Republic of Silkland that the presiding judge happened to have in her possession. Following his swearing in, Skakun and his aides were moved from the hotel to a federal safe house in the Chessik countryside to establish a base of operations. In the time it took to get from Burwell to the safe house, Skakun recalled all Silklandy diplomats from Miðland, formally severing all diplomatic ties with the invading nation, spoke to United States President Barack Obama, and issued several public statements on Twitter.

Political views

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Economic issues

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Skakun has been a consistent advocate for the working class and protecting labor unions. After the 2015 election, Skakun successfully lobbied the Chamber and the Lower House to pass the Employee Rights Act of 2016, which required the federal minimum wage to be raised every year according to the rate of inflation and clarified regulations surrounding business owners interfering with or discouraging union activities.

Foreign policy

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During his presidential campaign, Skakun promised to try and rebuild Silkland's relationships with its global allies that became strained under Owen Shaker's nationalist and isolationist policies. Skakun's vocal opposition to far-right extremism created tensions with some governments who had enjoyed a close relationship with Shaker. When asked about this during a 2017 interview on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Skakun said, "I'm not going to lose any sleep over hurting a fascist's feelings."

Relationship with Donald Trump

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According to an anonymous source within his administration, "There was no one [Skakun] hated talking to more than Donald Trump." During his first visit to the White House after Trump's election, numerous news outlets reported that there was very obvious tension between the two presidents. In a joint press conference in the White House Rose Garden, Skakun appeared visibly annoyed every time Trump mispronounced his name, at one point seemingly glaring at the American president. This moment went viral on social media and was often referred to as, "The Side-Eye Heard 'Round the World."

On several occasions, Skakun used Twitter to admonish Donald Trump for some of his more brash, controversial tweets. On 2 January 2018, in response to Donald Trump's statement where he claimed his "Nuclear Button" was bigger than Kim Jong-un's, Skakun replied to Trump's tweet with the word, "Stop." Among other examples, in response to an 18 March 2020 tweet by Trump where he referred to COVID-19 as the "Chinese Virus" and defended himself from criticism regarding his response to the pandemic, Skakun replied by saying, "Embarrassing. Delete this." Skakun's terse responses to Trump's and other far-right figureheads' rhetoric eventually developed into the "Skakun Punch" internet meme. In his 2021 exit interview with SNN, Skakun said that he was fully aware of the meme and called it, "Amusing."

Social issues

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Throughout his entire legal and political career, Skakun has been an outspoken advocate for civil rights, women's rights, the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities.

Personal life

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Skakun has an older and a younger brother, Ivan and Marko, respectively.

Achievements, awards and recognition

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Awards and decorations

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On 27 March 2022, Slovakia awarded Zelenskyy one of the country's top awards, the State Award of Alexander Dubček. Eduard Heger, the Slovak prime minister, compared the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.[14] Zelenskyy has been called by The Times of Israel the "Jewish defender of Ukrainian democracy".[15] Gal Beckerman of The Atlantic described Zelenskyy as having "[given] the world a Jewish hero".[16] British newspaper Financial Times selected Zelenskyy as Person of the Year in 2022.[17]

Species named after Zelenskyy

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Ausichicrinites zelenskyyi, an extinct species of feather star described on 20 July 2022 by a group of Polish paleontologists, is named after Zelenskyy "for his courage and bravery in defending free Ukraine".[30][31]

Selected filmography

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The film premiere of I, You, He, She

Films

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Year Title Role
2009 Love in the Big City Igor
2010 Love in the Big City 2 Igor
2011 Office Romance. Our Time Anatoly Efremovich Novoseltsev
2012 Rzhevsky Versus Napoleon Napoleon
8 First Dates Nikita Sokolov
2014 Love in Vegas Igor Zelenskyy
Paddington (Ukrainian dub) Paddington Bear (voice)
2015 8 New Dates Nikita Andreevich Sokolov
2016 8 Best Dates Nikita Andreevich Sokolov
Servant of the People 2 Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko
2018 I, You, He, She Maksym Tkachenko

Television shows and appearances

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 Dancing with the Stars (Ukraine) as contestant
2008–2012 Svaty ("In-Laws") as producer
2015–2019 Servant of the People Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko
2022 64th Annual Grammy Awards Guest appearance Special message, as President of Ukraine

Book

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A collection of sixteen of Zelenskyy's speeches as president have been collected in a book.

  • Zelensky, Volodymyr (2022). A Message From Ukraine: Speeches, 2019 – 2022. London: Hutchinson Heinemann. ISBN 978-1-52-915354-5.

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Ledwidge, Frank (3 March 2022). "Ukraine war: what are Russia's strategic aims and how effectively are they achieving them?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  2. ^ "The courage of Ukraine's unlikely wartime leader". Financial Times. 15 March 2022. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Українці визначилися з "найкращим президентом" в історії країни - Рейтинг". LIGA (in Russian). 18 May 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Як змінювався рівень довіри та підтримки Зеленського та його попередників (оновлено)". Слово і Діло (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Оцінка президентів: найбільше довіряють Зеленському, найкращим вважають Кучму". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Історія президентів України в семи актах - Центр спільних дій". Сentreua (in Ukrainian). 1 December 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  7. ^ "ethnic Ukrainian father's farer's medal certificate" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  8. ^ Зеленский Владимир | Руководитель проекта "Квартал-95" [Zelensky Vladimir | Project manager "Kvartal-95"]. Ligamedia (in Russian). 5 June 2018 [28 October 2011]. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  9. ^ Liphshiz, Cnaan (19 March 2019). "Jewish comic who plays Ukraine president on TV leads Ukraine's presidential race". The Times of Israel. OCLC 969749342. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019.
  10. ^ Higgins, Andrew (24 April 2019). "Ukraine's Newly Elected President Is Jewish. So Is Its Prime Minister. Not All Jews There Are Pleased". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  11. ^ ВОЛОДИМИР ЗЕЛЕНСЬКИЙ РОЗКАЗАВ ПРО СТОСУНКИ З БАТЬКАМИ [VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYI SPOKE ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PARENTS]. один плюс один [1+1 (TV channel)] (in Ukrainian). 28 September 2017. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2022. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 7 January 2019 suggested (help)
  12. ^ "Зеленський Олександр Семенович" [Zelensky Oleksandr Semenovich]. Kryvyi Rih State University of Economics and Technology (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 7 January 2019.
  13. ^ Zelenskyy, Volodymyr (26 December 2018). "Зеленский: Если меня выберут президентом, сначала будут обливать грязью, затем – уважать, а потом – плакать, когда уйду" [Zelensky: If I am elected president, first they will throw dirt on me, then they will respect me, and then they will cry when I am gone]. gordonua.com (Interview) (in Russian). Interviewed by Dmitry Gordon. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Slovakia Awards Zelenskiy Dubcek Prize For 'Freedom and Hope'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 28 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  15. ^ Cramer, Philissa. "18 things to know about Jewish defender of Ukrainian democracy Volodymyr Zelensky". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  16. ^ Beckerman, Gal (27 February 2022). "How Zelensky Gave the World a Jewish Hero". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  17. ^ "FT Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 'I am more responsible than brave'". Financial Times. 6 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Кабінет Міністрів України - Про нагородження Почесною грамотою Кабінету Міністрів України". kmu.gov.u. 23 June 2003. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  19. ^ ""Showed courage and courage": Zelensky was awarded the highest state award of the Czech Republic – the Order of the White Lion". newsreadonline.com. 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  20. ^ "France's Macron awards Legion of Honour to Ukraine's Zelenskiy". reuters.com. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ "Латвия наградила Зеленского Орденом Виестура — за мужество в защите Украины". gorod.lv. 2 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  22. ^ "Zełenski z najwyższym litewskim odznaczeniem. Nausėda wyróżnił ukraińskiego odpowiednika". kurierwilenski.lt. 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  23. ^ "Prezydent Ukrainy W. Zełeński odznaczony Nagrodą Orła Jana Karskiego". gosc.pl. 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  24. ^ "Slovakia Awards Zelenskiy Dubcek Prize For 'Freedom and Hope'". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 28 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022.
  25. ^ "UK's Johnson gives Churchill award to Ukraine's Zelenskyy". Associated Press. 26 July 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Zelenskyy wins Ronald Reagan Freedom Award". foxnews.com. 7 March 2022. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  27. ^ "Zelenskyy gets John F. Kennedy award for defending democracy". apnews.com. 21 April 2022. Archived from the original on 29 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  28. ^ "Constitution Center". Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  29. ^ Sky News
  30. ^ Salamon, Mariusz A.; Jain, Sreepat; Brachaniec, Tomasz; Duda, Piotr; Płachno, Bartosz J.; Gorzelak, Przemysław (2022). "Ausichicrinites zelenskyyi gen. et sp. nov., a first nearly complete feather star (Crinoidea) from the Upper Jurassic of Africa". Royal Society Open Science. 9 (7): 220345. Bibcode:2022RSOS....920345S. doi:10.1098/rsos.220345. PMC 9297031. PMID 35875469.
  31. ^ Bressan, David. "Fossil Named After Ukraine's President Zelenskyy". Forbes. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by President of Ukraine
2019–present 		Incumbent


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