Until he became president in 2019, most Ukrainians knew Volodymyr Zelensky mainly from ‘Servant of the People’, a sitcom on Ukrainian television. In it, he played a history teacher who becomes president to fight corruption in Ukraine by fire and sword.
For Zelensky, his presidential role on the boards was not enough, he really wanted to be at the helm. And he received massive support for that: he won the elections three years ago with great force majeure. “This here is a new face. I’ve never been in politics,” he confessed with a laugh.
Outsider Zelensky had big plans for his country. As in the series, as a corruption fighter, he promised to take down the powerful oligarchs. Moreover, Ukraine should not depend too much on the West, but also not on Russia, was his message.
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wartime hero
Inexperienced, he entered the presidential palace. The confidants he gathered around him had, if possible, been even less fond of political governance. Some came straight from a comedy club he belonged to.
The contrast with the image of his person now that he is leading his country in the war with Russia can hardly be greater. “We are not afraid of anything. We are not afraid to defend our country. We are not afraid of Russia,” he said last night. On Friday, he called on Russian President Putin to negotiate.
“He is now a hero because he is the head of state of an independent country that is under attack by a nuclear power. He is also very strong rhetorically: when Putin speaks for five quarters of an hour on history, Zelensky then says: ‘I will not bore you with the past, but would rather tell you what is going on now,” says Hubert Smeets, historian and founder of the Raam op Russia knowledge platform.
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Failing policy
The Ukrainians now seem like a man behind Zelensky, but that was different recently. Its popularity began to decline when Russia began building troops last year. At the beginning of this year, the polls about his popularity were downright dramatic.
“His domestic policy was not successful. His election promises to end corruption and maintain better relations with Russia were not fulfilled. His government was a mess,” says Smeets.
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Zelensky goal
Despite the fact that the Ukrainians now seem to rally massively behind Zelensky, his own position is precarious. The attacks on Kiev and other parts of the country continue unabated.
Russian troops are said to have already been spotted in the outskirts of Kiev, and Zelensky himself was said to have been taken to a bomb shelter on Friday. He himself stated earlier that he and his family were the main targets of the Russians.
But if the curtain falls for Zelensky, this does not mean the end of the resistance against the invasion of the Russians, according to Smeets. “He is of course an important symbol and there may not be a successor immediately. But very unlike the Russians fighting for Putin, the Ukrainians are fighting for much more than for Zelensky.”
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