The inauguration ceremony of the elected Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky took place in the building of the Verkhovna Rada. He took the oath on the text of the Bible and took office as head of state.

Zelensky came to parliament on foot from the nearby Mariinsky Park. Along the way, he greeted supporters, chatted with them and posed for photos. The ceremony began with a list of foreign guests, among whom there were no representatives of Russia. Next, the head of the Central Election Commission read out the election results, and the chairman of the Constitutional Court confirmed that Zelensky can assume the office of president. Zelensky took the official seat of the president in the Verkhovna Rada and signed his oath of office. After this, he was given the presidential regalia, in particular the badge of the head of state, the official seal and the mace.

Following this, Zelensky read out his inaugural speech. “From today, each of us is responsible for the Ukraine that we will leave to our children. Each of us in our place can do everything for the development of the country. A European country begins with everyone - yes, we have chosen the path to Europe, but Europe is not somewhere out there, Europe [points a finger to his head] is here,” he emphasized. “We also have a common pain,” Zelensky continued, “each of us died in Donbass, every day we lose each of us, and each of us is an internally displaced person.”

In the hall were previous Ukrainian presidents - Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, Petro Poroshenko, as well as Prime Minister Viktor Groysman. Among the leaders of other countries, in particular, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, and Latvian President Dalia Grybauskaite were present.

Zelensky won the presidential election in Ukraine following the second round on April 21. He received 73.22% of the votes, his rival, the previous president Petro Poroshenko, received 24.45% of the votes.

Zelensky became president of Ukraine