Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ex-Comedian Now-President of Ukraine Who Repelled Putin’s Invasion and Exposed the West

He wanders the streets of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, dressed in military uniform. He shares hot drinks with the soldiers in the middle of the night, and at the same time holds talks with world leaders. He shares publications in several languages ​​about the heroism and sacrifices of his citizens with 17 million followers via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram platforms.

He is Volodymyr Zelensky, the young comedian who was trusted by the Ukrainians to win the presidency of the country in mid-2019, and to become, after about two years, the first target of the Russian army, which started its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, under the pretext of "protecting the Russian-speaking minority" and purge Kyiv of neo-Nazis.

However, the paradox that modern history books will record is that the Ukrainian president is a Jew from a family that lived in the east of the country and spoke Russian, and his grandfather fought in the Soviet Red Army against the Nazis during World War II (1939-1945).

Zelensky's rise and his distinguished media rhetoric shows not only the falsehood of Putin's story, but also all the leaders of Western countries, especially the United States, who have always pledged to defend Ukraine, and considered it a partner of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

 

Origin and Rise

Zelensky (44 years) was born on January 25, 1978, in the city of Kryvyi Rih in southeastern Ukraine, and his Jewish family spoke only Russian, and in his teens his father prevented him from traveling to study in "Israel," according to the American Associated Press agency on February 25, 2022.

As a result, Zelensky remained in Ukraine to study law, married his classmate and had a son and daughter.

But when he graduated, he found a new career in comedy and acting, to quickly succeed in it. Starting in 1997, on the stage of the satirical KVN program in Russia, within a team he founded called 95 Kvartal, which later became a name for a huge artistic and media company he founded and chaired in 2003 in Ukraine.

Zelensky's fame increased as an actor with the movie Rzhevsky Versus Napoleon, shown in 2012, after which he had starring roles in several films and series.

But the important work that turned Zelensky's life, and even Ukraine, upside down, was the series Servant of the People, which predicted the future of the new Kyiv prime minister.

In the series, Zelensky played the role of a history teacher in a public school. One of his students filmed him talking angrily about the corruption of the government and the Ukrainian oligarchy. The video spread widely, and citizens began asking him to run for president.

After that, the hero in the series agreed to run for presidency, to be elected president of the country with an unexpected majority, and comically his life began to change on all levels.

After his success in the role of the country's leader, in 2018, Zelensky founded and headed a political party called the same as the serial's name "Servant of the People." The following year, he ran for the highest office in the country against President Petro Poroshenko, a famous billionaire who wanted to stay for a second term.

Commenting on Zelensky's candidacy and his increase in popularity, Poroshenko stated during his campaign that "the presidential term of five years is not a farce that we can pass on if it is not funny, nor is it a horror movie that is easy to stop."

“I want to remind everyone that it is not a joke, it is an election for the position of commander in chief,” adds Poroshenko, who never expected the famous actor to leave the screen to take his post.

With 73 percent of the vote, Zelensky inflicted a resounding defeat on the opposition and President Poroshenko, who was his closest challenger, received only 24 percent of the total vote in the second round of elections.

Washington Post in May 2019 commented on his success: "Imagination affects political reality because it makes the recipient get used to some situations, and the average Ukrainian citizen saw himself in the character of Zelensky."

Since the second half of 2019, Putin has been mobilizing more than 100,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border, threatening an escalation if the current situation did not change.

Over the past months, Putin has demanded "security guarantees" as a condition for de-escalation, most notably NATO's withdrawal from Eastern Europe and Ukraine's non-joining of the alliance, which the West considered "unacceptable."

On February 22, 2022, Putin announced his recognition of the independence of the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk from Ukraine, and on the 24th of the same month, he ordered his forces on the border to begin invading the entire country, striking its infrastructure and military.

 

Zelensky Alone

With the start of the invasion and the spread of video clips of Russian planes, which do not differentiate in their bombing between civilian and military areas, and the increase in the number of deaths and injuries, terror spread in Ukraine.

While thousands of Ukrainians began heading to the western borders to seek refuge in Poland and Romania, believing that their country would not withstand the "brutal" Russian invasion aiming to eliminate Ukraine’s democracy, international media began to talk that Washington urged Zelensky to leave the country.

The Washington Post reported that the United States was ready to help Zelensky leave Kyiv, to avoid being captured or killed by Russian forces.

On February 26, 2022, the newspaper quoted unnamed US and Ukrainian officials saying that Zelensky refused to leave the country and pledged to remain in charge of his government despite the grave personal risks.

This was confirmed by the Ukrainian embassy in London in a tweet, in which it said, "Zelensky rejected an American offer to evacuate him from the capital, Kyiv, with the attacks carried out by Russian forces for the third day."

The embassy revealed that Zelensky told the United States that "the fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride."

On the same day, Zelensky said in a letter posted on social media platforms that he had intelligence that he is the wanted target number 1 and his family is number 2, stressing that "Putin wants to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying its president."

As the invasion continues and concerns rise about Ukrainians left alone to confront Russia, Zelensky denounced in another video the silence of the United States and the European Union for their failure to deter Putin, not to mention supporting his country with weapons to defend itself against Russian invaders.

Zelensky revealed that he asked European leaders whether Ukraine would join NATO, but he did not receive any answer, stressing that everyone is afraid of giving his country guarantees to join the alliance.

He said, "Today I asked 27 European leaders whether Ukraine would join NATO, and I asked the question directly, everyone is afraid, and no one answers."

 

Challenging Putin

In response to Russian media close to Putin promoting news of Zelensky's escape and leaving Kyiv, calling on the Ukrainian army to take over the administration of the country, Zelensky went out in more than one video clip in the streets of Kyiv, dressed in military uniform, defying Putin, calling on Russian citizens to come out to denounce the war.

These video clips caused great interaction and sympathy with Zelensky on social media platforms and were re-shared thousands of times by activists and media in various countries of the world.

Activists denounced the West's repudiation of Zelensky's defense, and the failure of the Security Council to adopt a resolution on the Russian invasion of Ukraine after Moscow's delegate vetoed it.

The denunciation continued, with repeated statements and statements from the United States and European countries confirming that they "will not send armed forces to Ukraine to fight a war with Russia under any circumstances."

American journalist and writer Nick Knudsen shared a video of Zelensky drinking a hot drink with his soldiers defending Kyiv, saying: "What a morale boost for these forces. to have such a crazy president fighting alongside them. What a stubborn one!"

Commenting on the video, Mexican diplomat and politician Jorge Guajardo wrote: "Imagine how the Russian forces feel watching this clip, and at the same time watching Putin in his palace being ambushed in a foreign land."

"I've always been wary about Ukrainian President Zelensky, and I haven't been a fan of his many domestic policies," London-based international risk analyst Alex Kokcharov wrote.

He added, "However, so far, he has performed his role with dignity and courage as an unexpected war leader for a country under foreign aggression. Glory to the Ukrainian president!"