It is 4:30 a.m. on February 24, 2022. Vladimir Putin decides to send his hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers to invade Ukraine on several fronts. For the master of the Kremlin, it is only a matter of days before taking the country under his thumb. In kyiv, there is amazement. Several Western governments then urged Volodymyr Zelensky to flee, but the president refused exile. “You are a symbol, you must now behave like a head of state,” he repeats to himself, as if to better convince himself that his future is, from that moment on, sealed. He realizes that there is no other option. He will have to become a war leader.
This crucial episode from the start of the conflict between Russians and Ukrainians is reported in the book We will vanquish by Simon Shuster, who paints over the chapters an unprecedented portrait of Zelensky after four years spent at his side, on the front, in the presidential bunker or within the walls of his headquarters. The journalist of Russian-Ukrainian origin, who has covered news in the region since 2014, played a privileged role since his work is the result of numerous interviews with the president and his entourage and of intimate confidences made by Zelensky.
The correspondent first introduces us to the individual behind the president, because before ascending to the highest office in 2019, Zelensky was a popular comedian. His knowledge of state affairs was limited to the script of a satirical series in which he is the hero. The 45-year-old man that no one really took seriously was clearly not ready to wear the role of president. However, during the first three years of his mandate, he committed to fighting corruption while getting closer to Westerners. He promises peace to his people. However, the Russian invasion upsets his aspirations and shatters his naivety.
Shuster here carries out a formidable biographical investigation into the heart of the corridors of power. In the form of a war diary, it shows the metamorphosis of a president who never believed in a Russian invasion until the first bombings on the capital, despite warnings from the American government. We are literally sucked in by this extraordinary destiny with Churchillian accents.
Between the former troublemaker from the beginning and the drawn-looking head of state, the transformation is radical, underlines the reporter. It describes the bravery of Zelensky, who did not hesitate to sacrifice his family life for the survival of his nation. Not everything is complimentary. The author also mentions his refusal of criticism. He has a visceral need “to be applauded”. Today, the Ukrainian president is no longer laughing and sees his fight against Vladimir Putin as an existential struggle for democracy and freedom.