President Volodymyr Zelensky announced to the people early last month, as concerns of Russian forces massing on the Ukrainian border got louder: he was going skiing.
The 44-year-old former comedy actor beamed into the camera from behind orange wraparound sunglasses in a video shot while weaving down a picturesque route in the Carpathian foothills.
Volodymyr Zelensky Steps Up to the Role He Is Born To Play
His detractors pounced. They accused the president of being dismissive of the Russian danger, and they were enraged even more since he was staying at a ski resort owned by his biggest backer, an anti-American tycoon. According to The Times, the perception emerged that the novice politician, who was elected in 2019 after appearing on Ukrainian television as a fake president, was out of his depth.
However, over the course of the last week, Zelensky remade himself in the eyes of many Ukrainians, demonstrating that he is a compelling fit in an improbable new role: inspirational wartime leader.
In the early hours of Thursday, everything changed for him as Vladimir Putin prepared to unleash a major military force on Ukraine. Zelensky addressed his own 44 million countrymen on television before moving on to the 144 million Russians across the border.
While President Zelensky has inspired his country to extraordinary acts of bravery, Putin has shown no similar backing for his troops who, it appears, did not want to take part in his invasion. In local media reports, some Russian servicemen taken by the Ukrainians were seen sobbing and looked befuddled.
Others have been calling home to tell their relatives about gasoline shortages and rationing, Daily Mail reported. A video of a Ukrainian motorist teasing a Russian tank crew who had run out of petrol by giving them a lift back to Russia has gone viral on social media.
Mothers of troops pleaded with the media for their sons to return home - and not in a wooden box. They ought to be so fortunate. Should they die in battle, their bodies might be reduced to ash by a fleet of mobile crematoriums that have accompanied Putin's soldiers into Ukraine, according to Western intelligence assessments.
Russian troops have also been dying in quantities the Kremlin did not expect, according to Western diplomats. On Friday, it was estimated that 500 invading troops had died. That amount was thought to have climbed the day before yesterday dramatically.
Two Russian military planes shot down by Ukrainian artillery forces were thought to be transporting Russian paratroopers, with up to 125 men on board each aircraft. The Ilyushin Il-76 planes' wreckage was discovered 25 and 50 kilometers south of Kyiv.
Who is Volodymyr Zelensky?
Even though his nation is in the midst of a war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has been earning hearts and support from across the world.
Volodymyr Zelensky was a Russian-speaking Jewish comedian who had a popular TV program. Since 2003, Volodymyr Zelensky has been married to Olena Zelenska. He is the father of a son and a daughter.
The Ukrainian president graduated from the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics with a law degree, although he never worked in the legal sector. Semyon (Simon) Ivanovych Zelenskyy, his grandpa, participated in the Red Army during World War II (in the 57th Guards Motor Rifle Division); Semyon's father and three brothers were slain in the Holocaust.
Volodymyr Zelensky is an unintended president, and he was the most improbable contender in the 2019 election. However, after announcing his candidacy into the race, Zelensky raced ahead in the polls. Prior to entering politics, Zelensky worked as an actor and comedian. He had a producing firm as well. Zelensky starred in the popular TV drama Servant of the People, in which he portrayed a schoolteacher who becomes Ukraine's president when his rage goes viral.
Zelensky received 73 percent of the vote in the 2019 elections. He vowed to end the confrontation with Russia during his presidential campaign. Volodymyr Zelensky was identified in the Pandora Papers after being suspected of corruption. Offshore shell firms have been linked to him and his production company. Because of their shared ties to the entertainment world, many compared Zelensky to Donald Trump after being elected president, as per MINT.
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