He was the voice of Paddington Bear in Ukrainian and the star of hit comedies. Then he became president of his country, abandoning stage costumes for a black suit. Yet it is now that Volodymyr Zelensky is playing the part of his life.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Since the start of the Russian invasion last Thursday, the unlikely Ukrainian statesman has turned into a tragic hero.
While the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, took to their heels as soon as the Taliban approached Kabul last summer, Volodymyr Zelensky decided to stay in the Ukrainian capital. Even though he knows he is one of Vladimir Putin’s main targets. Even if the United States offered to exfiltrate it.
His response to the Americans will most likely go down in history. “I need ammunition, not a driver!” “, he said. The message is clear.
And this message, he repeats it wherever he can. Every day, he posts speeches on his Instagram account and elsewhere on social media in which he calls on Ukrainians to resist, Russians to denounce the position of their government and the rest of the world in reinforcement.
To counter false news suggesting that he fled the country, he appeared on the streets of Kyiv (Kiev, in Russian) a few times, alone or with the most influential members of his government and parliament. “The president is here. We are all here,” he says calmly, but defiantly, as Russian bombs continue to rain down on his country.
During his appearances, he invariably wears hues of camouflage. A t-shirt, a long-sleeved sweater or a bulletproof vest. It is the president who speaks, but also the commander-in-chief.
And the current passes. On Monday, a new poll showed that 91% of Ukrainians supported him. Members of the Ukrainian diaspora from all over the world are heading to Ukraine to support the president and the army.
The same enthusiasm in chancelleries around the world, where his calls for help seem to find attentive ears, from Turkey to India via the European Union and Canada. Even Switzerland came out of its legendary neutrality on Monday to impose financial punishments on Vladimir Putin’s regime.
However, a month ago, we would not have given much of the skin of this comedian turned politician. His main election promises – to fight corruption and end the conflict with Russia – were turning into collective disappointment. “During the first two years of his mandate, we saw the limits of his political inexperience. And many criticized his authoritarian side,” notes Dominique Arel, professor and holder of the Chair in Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa. The Ukrainian president was notably at the origin of a legal procedure for his opponent and predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, to be accused of treason. A dubious procedure that has raised eyebrows among many of Ukraine’s allies.
In a poll conducted at the end of January, just a month ago, more than 65% of Ukrainians polled believed he should not run for a second term. Not exactly a big love rating. We were far from the ballot that brought him to power in 2019 with 73% of the vote.
But then, in a few days, the war changed everything. And it allowed Volodymyr Zelensky to once again excel in what he does best: communicate and embody an ideal.
On the show that made him famous, servant of the people, he played a professor who won the Ukrainian presidency after having a big anger against the corruption and the oligarchs of the country. It was a role, but many Ukrainians believed in it. Many were disappointed realizing there was a gap between fiction and reality.
But the role of resistance leader that Volodymyr Zelensky plays today is very different.
His talents as an actor and orator are certainly useful in carrying his message, but it is the determination with which he puts himself in personal danger in the name of Ukraine’s survival that is moving.
It’s not a script, it’s real life. And the more he becomes a strong symbol of resistance to the invader, the more he becomes the man to be killed for Vladimir Putin’s regime. No communication plan prepares a politician for such peril, for such sacrifice. And that commands admiration.
These days, Volodymyr Zelensky is not just playing the role of a lifetime. He is risking his very life. And he deserves the whole world to serve as his shield.