First anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war: On February 24, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against its neighboring country, it was highly anticipated that his Ukrainian counterpart would flee the country amid the fact that the Biden administration He was offered to flee. The expectation was clear as the leader had no experience in handling the country in such a crisis.
However, instead of fleeing the country, Zelensky filmed a subversive video of himself with four of his close aides outside the presidential offices. “We are all here,” Zelensky said in a declaration of his determination to stay in Kiev and defend Ukraine’s independence.
Before the war began, the world assumed that the Ukrainian army would not go far against the mightiest and most advanced aggressor. However, Zelensky has inspired Ukrainians to fight since the very first day of the war. He has given them hope.
Also read: Russia-Ukraine War: The Story So Far
Zelensky– as an actor
By this time, the countrymen were familiar with his acting skills – as he had made his sketch in a popular television show. In fact, when he took the presidency at the age of 41, Zelensky struggled to convince Ukrainians that he was up to the job and his approval ratings plummeted. However, the world witnessed an unprecedented change in Zelensky – from ditching his trim suits for a full wardrobe of army green. A black beard had grown on his childish face. He looked old overnight.
Since then, almost every night, he has been appearing on television screens and social media platforms, where he can be seen fanning nationalism in his trained voice. During his speech, his voice sounds both soothing and impressive. Zelensky’s speech stirs moral outrage as he denounces the most recent Russian atrocities and assures his countrymen that those responsible for the brutality will be punished.
Zelensky has instilled a belief that Ukraine can prevail
He speaks of the anger and pain of the country’s devastation and untold deaths and vows that Ukraine will one day be whole. In almost every speech, the actor-Ukrainian boss does not tire of applauding all those on the front lines. Despite the horrors of the war, Zelensky has instilled confidence that Ukraine can prevail.
Many world leaders compare Zelensky with Winston Churchill – the British prime minister who led his country during World War II. “He’s exceptionally good at channeling a kind of larger national sentiment,” Fiona Hill, a Russia scholar at the Brookings Institution who served in three previous US administrations, said in an interview with The Associated Press. She credits Zelensky’s training as an actor.
roared in the parliament of many countries
Since the war’s intensification a year earlier, Zelensky has delivered a series of scathing speeches on Russia – denouncing war crimes and urging international leaders to provide more military support to the war-torn nation. But, he never asked any nation for financial help or asked for any emotional protection. Every time he roared in parliaments, he resounded to the deadly weapons.
In December last year, President Zelensky visited the United States—the first time he has been outside Ukraine since Putin ravaged its brutal war. Throughout his speech, he urged Congress to provide fierce weapons to shatter the will of the Russian military. Later, he landed in the United Kingdom and urged the House of Commons to expedite military aid. Also today, he took to the microblogging site, and urged world leaders to speed up war aid for a cry for freedom in Ukraine.
Despite Zelensky’s apparent star power, his advisor Mykhailo Podolić, one of the four men standing behind him in the video at the beginning of the battle, deserves his praise. “You put me in a little bit of an awkward position because, on the one hand, I see a president who is in his place at the moment,” Podolić told the news agency. “It’s great. He has an iron core, an iron will, a brilliant willingness to take responsibility, courage and a lot more.