Page 6 - Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Ukrainian President and Unlikely Hero

“Russia has embarked
on a path of evil.” 1 condemned the invaders. One of Zelenskyy’s
rst international tweets stated, “Russia treach-
—Volodymyr Zelenskyy
erously attacked our [nation this] morning, as
Nazi Germany did in [World War II]. As of to-
day, our countries are on different sides of world
history. Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is
defending itself and won’t give up its freedom no matter what
Moscow thinks.” 1
Zelenskyy soon con rmed that these words were not mere
temporary bravado but rather a sign that he had a proverbial
backbone of steel. In the rst few days of the con ict, bands of
Russian military operatives snuck into Kyiv bent on assassinating
him and his family. Putin apparently hoped that taking Zelenskyy
out would spread fear and demoralize the Ukrainian people. It
proved to be another of Putin’s growing list of failures. Hearing
that he had been targeted for death, Zelenskyy shrugged and told
his assistants that he had expected such a move by Putin. The
Ukrainian leader’s disciplined reaction was rst to alert his body-
guards to the threat and second to go on running the country.
Putin was not the only world leader who was
surprised by Zelenskyy’s well-ordered, un inch-

“I need ammunition, ing attitude during the early moments of the
not a ride.” 2 crisis. Expecting the Russian army to take Kyiv
in fairly short order, US and British of cials had
—Volodymyr Zelenskyy
moved swiftly to help preserve Ukraine’s demo-
cratic government. Meeting with Zelenskyy, they
offered to evacuate him and his family and staff to
a neighboring country, where he could set up a government in ex-
ile. That way, when Putin installed a Russian-friendly puppet regime
in Kyiv, the real Ukrainian government could go on functioning.
However, Zelenskyy politely but rmly turned down the offer.
In so doing he uttered ten words that revealed his commitment
to the job of leading his country, his courage, and an indomitable
spirit. “The ght is here,” Zelenskyy told the US and British of -
cials. “I need ammunition, not a ride.” 2

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