The modern Ukrainian presidency was formed when the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic passed a law on 5 July 1991 establishing the office of the "President of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic."^[1] Upon the proclamation of Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991, the title was changed to the "President of Ukraine." The first election of the President of Ukraine, which was held on 1 December 1991, was won by Leonid Kravchuk.

Every president of Ukraine except for Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been a People's Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada prior to their election. Kravchuk was the first president to resign from the office, following a power struggle with Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma. After the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, Viktor Yanukovych abandoned his office and fled the country. He was subsequently impeached, and replaced by Oleksandr Turchynov as the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, who serves as acting president when the office is vacant. Early presidential elections were held on 25 May 2014 and won by Petro Poroshenko; Poroshenko was inaugurated as the fifth president on 7 June 2014. On 18 June 2015, Yanukovych was officially deprived of the title of President of Ukraine.^[2] After defeating Poroshenko, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was inaugurated as the sixth president of Ukraine on 20 May 2019.

List

Party legend

  Independent   Our Ukraine   Party of Regions   Fatherland   Petro Poroshenko Bloc   Servant of the People

#	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Cabinets	Elections	Prior office	Political alliance
—		Leonid Kravchuk[3] Леонід Кравчук (1934–2022)	24 August 1991[a]	5 December 1991	Fokin (1990–92)	—	Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada		Independent
1			5 December 1991	19 July 1994		1991
			02 3292 years, 329 days		Kuchma (1992–93)
			Declared independence of Ukraine in 1991. Lost re-election campaign
2		Leonid Kuchma[4] Леонід Кучма (1938–)	19 July 1994[5]	23 January 2005	Masol II (1994–95)	1994	2nd Prime Minister of Ukraine		Independent[6]
					Marchuk (1995–96)
					Lazarenko (1996–97)
					Pustovoitenko (1997–99)
			10 years, 188 days
					Yushchenko (1999–2001)	1999
					Kinakh (2001–02)
					Yanukovych I (2002–04)
			Took office following Kravchuk's resignation. Won re-election in 1994 and 1999. Opted out of third term in office[7]
3		Viktor Yushchenko[8] Віктор Ющенко (1954–)	23 January 2005	25 February 2010	Tymoshenko I (2005)	2004	7th Prime Minister of Ukraine		Our Ukraine[9]
			5 years, 66 days		Yekhanurov (2005–06)
					Yanukovych II (2006–07)
					Tymoshenko II (2007–10)
			Took office following the Orange Revolution. Presided over the Great Recession in Ukraine. Lost re-election campaign[10]
4		Viktor Yanukovych[11] Віктор Янукович (1950–)	25 February 2010	22 February 2014	Azarov I (2010–12)	2010	12th Prime Minister of Ukraine		Party of Regions[12]
			3 years, 362 days		Azarov II (2012–14)
			Elected in 2010. Removed from office following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.[13] Was stripped of the title after leaving office[14]
—		Oleksandr Turchynov[15] Олександр Турчинов (1964–)	23 February 2014	7 June 2014	Yatsenyuk I (2014)[16]	—	Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada		Fatherland[17]
			0 years, 115 days
			Temporarily assumed office following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. Led the country during the invasion of Crimea
5		Petro Poroshenko[18] Петро Порошенко (1965–)	7 June 2014	20 May 2019	Yatsenyuk II (2014–2016)	2014	Minister of Trade and Economic Development		Petro Poroshenko Bloc
			4 years, 347 days		Groysman (2016–2019)
			Elected in 2014. Presided over the first stage of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Lost re-election campaign
6		Volodymyr Zelenskyy Володимир Зеленський (1978–)	20 May 2019	Incumbent		2019	— (no prior elected office)		Servant of the People
			4 years, 256 days		Honcharuk (2019–2020)
					Shmyhal (2020–present)
			Elected in 2019. Incumbent. Led the country during the Russian invasion

Timeline

Social poll rankings of Ukrainian presidents