Volodymyr Zelensky: The former actor who became president in time of war

Appeared on Ukrainian television early on Thursday morning 24/2, as the threat of war was at his door. First, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addressed to the 44 million citizens of Ukraine. He then turned to the 144 million Russians living next door and asked them to prevent an attack reminiscent of the darkest times in Europe since World War II.

“Listen to the voice of reason,” Mr Zelensky said after midnight on Thursday in Kiev. “The Ukrainian people want peace.”

It was a passionate attempt to save his country – and it did not work, according to the New York Times. Hours later, a large-scale Russian invasion had begun and Mr. Zelensky, a former television actor, had become president of the country in time of war. And for now, as the Russian offensive continues, the Ukrainians have rallied around him.

His dramatic speech, as well as his appearance at the Munich Security Conference last weekend, in which he warned European allies of “calming down” Russia, gave Mr Zelensky something that even his allies would not normally give him: Seriousness.

He is now facing the biggest crisis in his country’s modern history, even when he has to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Putin has started a war against Ukraine and against the entire democratic world,” Zelensky said in a second national speech on Thursday after Russian troops struck targets in 16 cities across the country, including the capital, Kiev. “He wants to destroy our country and everything we have built. “But we know the strength of the Ukrainian people.” “You are indomitable,” he added. “You are Ukrainians.”

Taking on a role for which he had not rehearsed

According to the Times, of course, it remains deeply uncertain how long, or even if, the Ukrainians can actually withstand a much larger and superior Russian power or whether Mr. Zelensky will continue to take on a role for which he did not have no rehearsal. Public opinion could still turn against him, as it did in mid-February, as the threat of war grew. And a more serious danger lurks: A possible assassination – a prospect that even Zelensky’s office raised on Thursdayas Russian forces approached Kiev.

Maria Zolkina, a Ukrainian political analyst working for the Foundation for Democratic Initiatives, said Zelensky “did not choose to fight and is not a wartime president.” “But since yesterday, when it became clear from his information what form the attack would take, he is acting exactly as a president should act in time of war.”

Mr Zelensky rose to power as a fighter against corruption, confident in his ability to mediate a lasting peace in the long-running conflict with Russian-backed separatists then confined to the east of the country. He won overwhelmingly, with 73% of Ukrainians backing him against Petro Poroshenko, a wealthy businessman who had taken a hard line against Moscow.

How Zelensky was elected

Mr. Zelensky had no previous experience in politics other than the role of president on television. He won a populist agenda targeting a wealthy class of oligarchs and promised to be a realistic president whose vision for Ukraine was a country that was neither a “corrupt partner of the West” nor “Russia’s little sister.”

His strongest support came from southern and eastern Ukraine, including the conflict-torn Donetsk and Luhansk regions, part of which is part of two separatist enclaves whose independence Putin recognized on Monday.

Since then, there have been doubts about his readiness to navigate Ukraine through such dangerous straits and the know-how of the advisers he has surrounded, many of whom are from his comedy studio, Kvartal 95. While his defense executives and military they are respected, and he has slowly built a meritocratic group, many of those around him with little experience in governing a country, let alone diplomacy or war.

From the moment Russia invaded, they are on the front line. And Mr. Zelensky, in his last call to prevent war, seized that moment and all his drama in a way that few expected, giving a besieged people such a much-needed gathering place.

Invoking the Russian feeling as well

When he appealed directly to the Russian people, changing his language to Russian as he did so, he described them as neighbors and family, although he acknowledged the differences and admitted that they would probably never hear him, given the Kremlin’s tight media control. Russia.

He tried to address the main allegations made by the Kremlin against the Ukrainians. The Ukrainians were not Nazis, said Zelensky, a Jew whose grandfather had served in the Soviet Army throughout the war. They did not hate Russian culture, he said.

“We are different,” he said, “but that is no reason to be enemies. We want to determine, to build our future on our own, peacefully, calmly and honestly “.

Ukraine’s parliament has declared a state of emergency and the government has said it will give weapons to anyone with combat experience who was ready to defend the country and urged people to donate blood for wounded veterans.

“The future of our Ukrainian people depends on every citizen,” Zelensky said on Thursday. “The enemy has suffered heavy losses,” he added. “The losses of the enemy will be even greater. They came to our land. Ukraine is under attack from the north, east and south. Air attack. Protection projects. “Today, the army and national solidarity are the backbone of the Ukrainian state.” It was an optimistic statement considering how much fire the Russians are facing.

Gathering around his face

According to the Times, Mr. Zelensky’s course reflects that of his country, which has been at war with Russian-backed separatists for eight years. Over the past decade, Ukrainian national pride and the use of the Ukrainian language have increased dramatically, combined with confidence in democracy and pro-Western orientation. Confidence in Russia and respect for Putin’s authoritarian government have waned.

And the Ukrainians have rallied around Mr. Zelensky, even though his initial attempts to downplay President Biden’s gloomy outlook for a full-scale Russian invasion upset the country and cost the country critical preparation time.

“Ukrainians are uniting, we have a president,” said Daria Kalenyuk, head of the Center for Combating Corruption in Ukraine, a powerful research institute.

“He is the commander-in-chief and the Ukrainian army is following his instructions. We now support him, he is leading the country to war, ignoring any criticism of how it could be better dealt with. “His role is crucial now.”

Unity is remarkable in a Ukraine that has been characterized by spasmodic policies in the past. Even Mr. Zelensky’s predecessor, Mr. Poroshenko – whom Mr. Zelensky’s government wanted to arrest on charges of treason and support of terrorism that many have dismissed as politically motivated – stood behind him.

There were some who want Mr Zelensky to make peace at any cost.
“I want our president to wave a white flag, I want us to leave them until there is no war,” said Oksana Zimunova, a 23-year-old shop assistant who is desperately looking for a train ticket to Kiev Central Station. “It simply came to our notice then. “I understand that he is afraid that the people will not accept it,” he said, referring to Mr Zelensky, “but he must raise a white flag.”

“What is happening now is similar to what happened in 1939,” said a Ukrainian citizen, referring to the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany.

“No one believed that Germany would invade a European country. And no one believed that Putin, the new Hitler of our time, would invade a peaceful nation. The first civilians have already been killed and there will be more suffering. We have warned our Western partners that you must be tough on Russia – do not appease them. “It’s a call for more violence.”