Once an actor and comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky finds himself in the middle of a war against Russia. Despite his short political career, the Ukrainian president has shown mettle and serenity to face the war, with emotional messages to the nation and to Western powers to support the country in the midst of the conflict.
“Putin started a war against Ukraine and against the whole democratic world (…) But if they try to take away our country, our freedom and our life, we will defend ourselves.”
This is how President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the start of the war with Russia on Thursday, February 24. A confirmation of the worst case scenario and that the former comedian is now in charge of a war cabinet against Russia.
Although many would never have bet on it, the reality around the actor and comedian is one: he is facing the greatest modern crisis in his country and one of the world’s superpowers, Russia led by Vladimir Putin.
Along these lines, his discourse, initially much more moderate with the centrist Servant of the People party, has radically changed after the occupation of the neighboring nation.
“We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Get ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities,” the president wrote in a message to citizens to arm themselves, while the Ukrainian Defense Ministry disclosed how to prepare Molotov cocktails at home.
We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2022
Since the beginning of this diplomatic crisis that has escalated into war –although the Donbass region has already been mired in conflict for more than seven years-, Zelensky managed to keep his blood cool. He did so even in the face of constant warnings from one of his main allies, the United States, that an “imminent” war could start “without warning.”
“What should we do? Just one thing: keep calm,” he said in a January speech to his 40 million citizens, whom he described as “indomitable.”
Faced with forecasts of war by the US State Department, the president once again managed to hold his ground and declared a day of “national unity.”
But with the war in its early stages, the president’s leadership could be tainted, as it was in the middle of the month when public opinion turned its back on him with the threat of invasion rising. Although, far from public disapproval, even more dire scenarios are contemplated: his own office and governments such as France have assured that they fear his possible assassination.
Zelensk, from comedian to leader of Ukraine
Zelensky was born in Krivoy Rog, south of the Ukrainian capital, but spent most of his youth in Mongolia, an Asian country bordering Russia. During his childhood, Volodymyr spoke mainly Russian, something that would later become an obstacle to becoming president, since many thought that he would be pro-Russian.
When he began running for the presidency in 2018, Zelensky had no political experience other than having played a president on a television series.
In fact, his political party received the same name as that of the series ‘Servant of the People’, a satire in which the Ukrainian played a teacher who becomes president; with images that went viral on social networks such as that of Zelenski in the middle of the shooting in the Ukrainian Parliament.
#Viral | The President of Ukraine🇺🇦, Vladimir Zelensky became famous in the presidential race in a series called “Servant of the People”, in which he played a teacher who becomes President.
One of the scenes is a dream where this happens: pic.twitter.com/alICaf4QSR
– La Huella newspaper (@LaHuellaSV) February 24, 2022
It was a lightning campaign, initially focused on social networks, which made the television star triumph with more than 72% of the votes in the second round. But many doubted his seriousness and feared the worst, since they saw a big difference between making jokes on the small screen and running a country. Part of her triumph lay in heru speech centered on not being a “corrupt partner of the West” or “Russia’s younger brother”.
It was on December 31, 2018 when the Mariyinsky Palace was taken over. Upon entry, Ukraine was already at odds with Russia, in crisis since 2014 over the Crimean territories and in the midst of the outbreak of war with the country’s separatist east. His predecessor and outright opponent from Moscow, Petró Poroshenko, was in historic low popularity.
Much more conciliatory, Zelensky came with promises such as unifying the territory, including the Lugansk and Donetsk territories, declared independent by Russia just a few days ago. And, despite the fact that he has not fulfilled this purpose, many praise his work.
“Honestly, he is not doing badly… He is showing composure. He has an impossible job, he is caught between pressure from one side and the other, the Russians and the Americans,” a diplomatic source told France 24.
To Vladimir Putin’s argument to “denazify” Ukraine when he declared the invasionZelensky defended himself by saying that he himself was Jewish and Russian-speaking. However, several investigations show that the presence of fascist movements in the country is a realityfueled by the polarization that exists in the territory.
Another of his promises, the Ukrainian “dream” of joining NATO, also seems a long way off. Which is, in turn, one of the red lines of Moscow, which had already warned the Atlantic Alliance not to include any of the territories of the former Soviet Union in the security body.
“Who is ready to give Ukraine the guarantee to join NATO?” Zelensky asked in one of his video conferences after the declaration of war, criticizing the “abandonment” of the West.
However, Western powers are expected to send more economic and military support – arms only for the time being – to Ukraine. In this context, experts are of the opinion that, regardless of his performance as president during a war, Zelensky is already certain to go down in history.
With Reuters and local media