European of the week
Volodymyr Zelensky, the comedian turned warlord
Audio 04:15
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an interview with foreign media in Kiev, Ukraine, March 3, 2022. via REUTERS - UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER
By: Daniel Vallot Follow
4 mins
Former comic actor, elected in 2019 to the presidency, Volodymyr Zelensky surprised the whole world by his composure and his determination in the face of the Russian invasion.
By his refusal to leave Kiev and by his numerous video messages broadcast on social networks, he galvanized the Ukrainian population and encouraged resistance to the Russian invasion.
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The video lasts less than a minute, but it struck people as soon as it appeared on social networks on February 25, the second day of the Russian intervention.
"
We are here
," said Volodymyr Zelensky, drawn features, in khaki, surrounded by his Prime Minister and several members of his cabinet.
The Ukrainian president is filmed on a mobile phone, in the street, in Kiev, in the middle of the night.
“
We are here
”, a sentence repeated throughout the video to reassure the Ukrainians, and to encourage them to fight.
“
Tonight will be even more difficult than last day,
urges Volodymyr Zelensky.
I
_
address all defenders on all fronts: tonight we must resist.
»
These first video messages are viewed and relayed massively on social networks.
And the posture of Volodymyr Zelensky impresses the Ukrainians, who did not expect to see him embody the role of warlord to such an extent.
“
The way he behaves deserves great respect
, explains Dmitro, a resident of Krivih Rih, the birthplace of the Ukrainian president, at the microphone of our special correspondents
Anastasia Becchio
and
Boris Vichith
.
He has become a national hero!
I think others in his place would have picked up their things and run without a fight.
»
"Servant of the People"
For his compatriots, the metamorphosis of Volodymyr Zelensky is not obvious, in particular because of his career as an actor.
Because the Ukrainian president, now 44 years old, first made himself known for his comic talents, and for a television series,
Servant of the People
, which will serve as a political platform for him.
Ironically, he embodies in this series a naive and idealistic history professor who will become president.
In 2019, to everyone's surprise, he won the election hands down and crushed the outgoing president, Petro Poroshenko, by playing the card of proximity to the people.
“
Zelensky comes from a modest background: he lived for a long time in the dormitory buildings of Krivih Rih.
He was a Russian speaker and he learned the Ukrainian language at an impressive speed!
He has always played on this popular and even populist image of someone who comes from the people.
»
The turning point of Munich
After his election, his first attempts to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate on the Donbass ended in resounding failure.
And in the fall of 2021, as Russia amasses tens of thousands of men on the borders, Ukrainians place no trust in it to wage war.
For Tetyana Ogarkova, the turning point came a few days before the outbreak of hostilities, during the Security Conference in Munich on February 19.
"
He made a speech that was supported by 100% of the population,
she explains,
because he said everything that needed to be said in this situation, about Russia and the need for security guarantees from the 'West.
It was there that he began his extremely rapid transformation into the leader of the Nation.
»
The two assets of Ukraine
Some of his formulas hit home, especially when Western leaders offer to exfiltrate him from the Ukrainian capital.
"
He refused despite the sometimes very insistent invitations from Joe Biden, the American president, to whom he said: 'I need ammunition and you are offering me an evacuation!'
He stays close to his people and that's very good!
»
With his expert use of social networks and his sense of the shock formula, Volodymyr Zelensky won a crucial battle in the war waged with Russia: that of communication.
Eight years after the disaster of the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine can now count on two assets against Russia.
First, a seasoned army, better armed and better equipped.
Then, a leader who knew how to galvanize the population around a strong idea: that defeat against Russia was not inevitable.
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Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky
Russia
Vladimir Poutine
Joe Biden
United States