In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine.
To a watching world, his message is this, both in his words and in his resolute, sometimes dull presence: He stands as a mirror of the suffering and emotion of his people.
Looks like it’s passing. Just days after the war that engulfed his nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is drawing historical comparisons as an effective and provocative wartime communicator – yet with a distinctly modern touch influenced by the sensibility of live television and the personal experience of social media. with.
With mild growth of the beard, his baby-faced complexion is now usually puffy and sticky. Suits and dress shirts have been replaced by olive military style garb. His hoarse voice removes fatigue. Together, these help form a narrative of David’s personal courage in fighting the mighty Goliath and denied safe passage from his homeland – embodied by his line that he needs “ammunition, not a ride”.
All of this is quite a development for a former TV actor and comedian who, weeks ago, was despised in some corners as a political novice, eager to settle with Moscow.
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“Here’s a man who was originally supposed to be a light, out of his element, to be crushed by a major superpower next door. And that didn’t happen,” said Andrew J. Polsky, political science at Hunter College in New York U.S. professor and author of a book on wartime U.S. presidents. “I think people really hoped he would run away… and I think he surprised people by sharing the danger they faced.” were sharing.”
This, says Polsky, “has created a reciprocal relationship between Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. I think they got energy from each other and confidence from each other. It’s an impressive communication achievement for a leader, in a crisis situation.” Staying in touch with your people so much in between.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a video message to people attending a rally at Remember Square on March 4, 2022 in Frankfurt, Germany.
Winston Churchill, who united Britons during the darkest days of World War II, is also a name often invoked by Churchill’s biographer. One analyst compared Zelensky to Benjamin Franklin and his success in soliciting French support for the American Revolution.
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Through interviews and appearances via video links from hidden places, Zelensky seeks to rally the world in favor of Ukraine. When he told the European Parliament, “We are just fighting for our land and our freedom,” the translator struggled not to cry.
Speaking at a San Francisco fundraiser the other day, US First Lady Jill Biden said that “all I have to do is turn on the TV every morning and pray that Zelensky is still alive.”
Some of Zelensky’s appearances seem designed to give that simple reassurance. Shortly after the Russian invasion, he was visible in mobile phone video from a dark street in Kyiv, with four serious companions standing behind him.
“We are all here,” he said. “Our soldiers are here, the citizens of our country are here defending our freedom, and we will continue to do so. Glory to the defenders of Ukraine.”
Zelensky’s urge to be with his wife and children was a turning point, says Orisia Lutsevich, a research fellow and manager of the Ukraine Forum in Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. “People saw that they had courage,” she says.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared aloof and distant, speaking to aides via videoconference or at the end of an almost absurdly long table, with speeches that Polsky says display a self-made sense of history. Huh.
Ukraine’s president’s words predict a mix of defiance and a growing desperation, and he is not afraid to isolate those who may need the help he needs. For example, he told NATO officials that if they did not impose a no-fly zone on Ukraine, they would take responsibility for civilian deaths.
Through those messages, he is speaking not only to NATO leaders, but also directly to civilians who may pressure him to do more, said Professor of History at the Colorado School of Mines and Says propaganda and intelligence expert Kenneth Osgood.
In this photo provided by the Press Office of the President of Ukraine, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the nation via his phone in Kyiv, the center of Ukraine, on February 26, 2022.
Zelensky’s arguments remind an analyst of Benjamin Franklin’s visit to France in 1776 of French support for the American Revolution—a visit that ultimately proved to be crucial to history.
“The British had military superiority,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert in political communication and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “If France had not joined the war in 1778, the outcome could have been different.”
Jamieson says the Ukrainian leader’s personality, message and delivery are mutually reinforcing. “His delivery straight into the camera in closeup is effective social media – unpretentious, clear, straightforward and with resolution.”
Their messages don’t necessarily have the same impact, she notes. “Don’t let them destroy us” is a more effective framework, she says, than calling the NATO summit “weak and confusing”.
Jamieson says that TV networks amplified the power of Zelensky’s appeal with powerful visuals, “overlaying provocative images of damaged buildings, mothers and children fleeing, Russian tanks in danger, empty store shelves and the like. ” Furthermore, she says, the ghost of his passing always looms: “His increasingly immaculate appearance, flak jackets in public, and repeated reminders to world leaders that this may be the last time they see him alive.” can add urgency to their appeals.”
The same message – this may be the last time they see him alive – was delivered to members of the US Congress via Zoom over the weekend.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the plenary via remote link during an extraordinary session on Ukraine at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
US Representative Mike Quigley of Illinois told ABC News that he took notes when Zelensky spoke. “Quiet,” heroic and “phenomenal” were among the words he wrote. “I don’t think you can sit there with human emotion and not move, not be inspired,” Quigley said.
He cited the Churchill comparison. So did Andrew Roberts, author of the 2018 biography “Churchill: Walking With Destiny”: Speaking on a Commentary magazine podcast, he noted both Zelensky’s personal bravery and his refusal to sugarcoat things.
According to propaganda expert Osgood, Zelensky does not have the rhetorical power that Churchill did in radio messages, such as the German bombs raining down London. “Zelensky is very blunt—like, ‘Here’s the story. I’m going to give it straight to you.’ So it is not the same poem. But there is only one disappointment.”
Indeed, in style, the more formal Churchill and Zelensky could not have been more different. But each person, Polsky says, has mastered the media of his era.
“Churchill made good use of the radio, the written word too,” he says. “And Zelensky makes excellent use of casual social media. He walks the streets and puts up his cell phone, and he talks to people.” His off-the-cuff remarks, without the time to prepare a lengthy speech, add to the true nature of his presentations, he and others say, and resonate with a younger generation.
Many people in Ukraine did not see Zelensky as a great leader before the war, says Lutsevich at the Ukraine Forum in London. Now, however, he has become the voice of the nation.
“They have a personal quality, to be particularly sensitive to your environment, to be able to play different roles, to be sensitive to your audience,” she says. “He has a lot of empathy as a leader.”
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