Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared his personal income for the first time since the outbreak of war with Russia, as part of his effort to increase transparency in his government.

In 2021, the year before Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelenskiy and his family reported income of 10.8 million hryvnia ($285,000), down 12 million hryvnia from the previous year, even as his income was boosted by the sale of $142,000 of government bonds, according to a statement on his website.

In 2022, the first year of the Russian invasion, the Zelenskiy family’s income fell further to 3.7 million hryvnia as he earned less income from renting real estate he owned because of the hostilities.

Even as the war allowed Ukrainian officials to withhold revealing sensitive personal information, Zelenskiy pushed to make them publicly declare assets. Increasing transparency and tackling graft are necessary for his country to ensure continued financial aid from its western allies, even as more than $100 billion of funds are held up due to political maneuvering inside US and EU.

    • june@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I think we’re gonna learn some things about him after this war is over that we won’t like. He’s doing great as a war time president, but no one is this squeaky clean.

      • eek2121@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        …and that is okay. He is still doing an incredible job and is an incredible public figure.

        Nobody is perfect, nor do they have to be.

        • june@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Absolutely. I couldn’t agree more.

          I just see a lot of people putting him on a pedestal that are probably gonna be let down some day.

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        True.

        For example Churchill: great wartime PM, but also very much an anti-worker free market believing imperialist who actively fought against both independence for and immigration from the British colonies. People tend to only remember the first part, though.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          11 months ago

          My dad, who was a socialist until the day he died, told me proudly about how he booed Churchill when Churchill came to visit his high school after the war, but when he was still PM. He was Jewish, so he appreciated Churchill’s war leadership that kept the Nazis from invading, but otherwise thought he was a shit leader.

        • Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          And wasn’t he kinda known for being a drunk? (Still one of the most quotable people in recent history)

      • banneryear1868@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Here’s his approval rating over time that reflects this point perfectly. He’s supported in his actions during the war way more than he was as a politician, he was actually doing pretty badly before the war in his approvals. Interested to see how the prolonged conflict affects this, and what the regional differences are.

      • Woht24@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        But you could say the same thing about you, just you’re not in a spotlight. What’s the point of even saying ‘everyone has something’.

        • june@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Yes, I am included in ‘everyone’.

          The reason I say it is because Zelensky has been put on a pretty high pedestal, for example:

          bruh everything about zelensky is incredible. What a guy

          And some folks are going to be sorely disappointed later on when they learn more about him and where his failings lie.

            • june@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              Which would be meaningless for nearly anyone that’s not in a position of power and influence, yes.

              I’m really not sure what your point is here.

    • comrade19@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I hope they make statues of him like they did with all those bygone fellas that did something great

    • Lev_Astov@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I’ve been disturbed to see an increasing number of purple parroting character assassination points about Zelenskiy.