Consider This from NPR - Zelenskyy's Transformation From Comedian To Icon Of Democracy

Episode Date: February 21, 2023

This week marks one year since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022.And in the past year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has undergone a dramatic political transformation. Zelenskyy got his start as a comedian who played an accidental president on TV. He was then elected president in real life, only to see his popularity slump. Now, after a year of war, he is widely considered an icon of democracy.NPR's Frank Langfitt takes a look at how Zelenskyy became the kind of leader he is today and why some Ukrainians still question his leadership.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

With change comes opportunity. That's what many in Ukraine felt when the parliament in Kiev declared the country's independence from the Soviet Union back in 1991. The parliament of Ukraine declares the complete independence of Ukraine, that the territory of Ukraine is whole and unencumbered. From this day forward, the constitution of Ukraine will be the sole law of the land. The laws of the USSR no longer apply. Free from Moscow's authoritarian grip, Ukrainians saw a world of possibilities. For a young Volodymyr Zelensky, that meant becoming

a comedic actor and an entertainment executive. His signature TV role, an idealistic teacher who becomes Ukraine's accidental president. And in this scene from the first episode that this is some kind of weird joke. I feel like it's a practical joke. Based on the preliminary opinion polls, I shouldn't even be in the top 10. And from there, it gets weirder. In 2019, on the back of his successful TV show, Zelensky actually ran for president, like in real life. But his time in office has been no sitcom. Before Russia invaded last year, Zelensky's approval rating had been as low

as 25 percent. Today, he is one of the world's most popular politicians. Some compare him to Winston Churchill. So consider this. Volodymyr Zelensky has pulled off one of the most dramatic political transformations in modern memory. As Ukraine marks the first anniversary of the war, we take a look at how he did that. From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com.

T's and C's apply. It's Consider This from NPR. President Biden made an unannounced trip to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, on Monday. One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you. And the world stands with you. This visit to a war zone by the U.S. president was a dramatic moment meant to underscore Ukraine's resilience in the face of Russia's invasion and the resilience of the man Biden stood next to, President Volodymyr

Zelensky. NPR's Frank Langfitt explains how Zelensky became the leader he is today and why some Ukrainians still have doubts about his leadership. Zelensky's transformation began with a decision to stay in Kiev as Russian forces headed towards the capital. Alexei Arastovich is a former advisor to the office of the president. He was with Zelensky at the beginning of the war. Arastovich says he and others urged the president to move someplace safer. We said, what about cruise missile? He said, I stay here. What about saboteurs? I stay here. We're going to kill Arastovich says the president was thinking differently than his advisors. great stress for all defenders of Ukraine. And we're thinking like military people, he's thinking like a head of the nation. On the second day of the war, Zelensky went out

on the streets and stood with his chief of staff, as well as Ukraine's prime minister. The setting? A Baroque building in the heart of Kyiv that all Ukrainians would recognize. Recording on his phone, Zelensky sent this defiant message. We are all here. Our soldiers are here. The citizens are here. We defend our independence. That's how it'll go. People had wondered if Zelensky would flee. Dariuk Kalenyuk runs the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a public watchdog group. Before war, he was saying, there will be no war, relax everyone. I was thinking, okay, this guy, he's not prepared.

He showed the great example by staying in Kyiv. And honestly, it was a surprise for me. Zelensky ran for office in 2019, pledging to end the war with Russia in the east of the country, boost the economy, and attack corruption. But he put friends from his entertainment career into key government posts for which they had no experience. Critics say he embraced oligarchs and undermined government oversight. People became disillusioned. Zelensky has a controversial reputation. He is a good visioner, but not a very good manager. So he surrounds himself with yes-mans. But his decision to stay in Kyiv transformed a public opinion.

Irina Fedets is a sociologist with Rating Group, one of Ukraine's biggest independent research firms. His actions during the beginning of the war, I think they gained respect from people from different sides of the political spectrum, even for those who were critical of him. As if taking on a new role, Zelensky dressed the part. He began wearing military olive green. Volodymyr Yermolenko is a philosopher and journalistensky is a person who has this capacity of empathy. He creates this image that I'm one of you. The war only enhanced this feeling because he became much more mature, he has a beard right now, he's doing physical exercises, so he's trying really to look like a warrior. Zelensky rallied international support. Six days into the invasion, he addressed the European Parliament by video. The English translator wept. We're fighting just for our land and for our freedom. Zelensky's team tailored each address to its audience.

Speaking to the U.S. Congress in December, this time in English, he invoked another wartime leader. I recall the wars of the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The American people, in their rightist might, will win to absolute victory. The Ukrainian people will win too. Absolutely. The result? NATO allies have sent more than $40 billion in weapons to Ukraine. To appreciate the turnaround this marked for Zelensky, consider his performance leading up to the war.

I saw him in the Kherson region less than two weeks before the invasion. He was there to observe drills to defend against Russian sabotage. So we're just about 15 miles north of Russian-occupied Crimea, and we're watching the National Guard and the police officers here stage a counterterrorism attack. Afterwards, Zelensky gave an impromptu news conference. He was defensive and confusing. U.S. officials had warned Russia would launch a massive invasion. Zelensky downplayed it. I believe that today in the information space,

there is too much information about a full-scale war on the part of the Russian Federation. Then the president asked foreign reporters, standing there on the street, to provide him with intelligence. If there is any additional information about a 100% invasion started by the Russian Federation into Ukraine, please give us this information. In a later interview with the Washington Post, Zelensky acknowledged he knew an invasion was coming. But he said he didn't tell the Ukrainian people to prevent panic and damage to the country's economy. Many here seem to accept that. But they also say Zelensky's government failed to prepare the country to

defend itself. Tatyana Chornovol used to serve in Ukraine's parliament. I met her at a farmhouse in the Kherson region last fall. She's in the army now and delighted in showing me around a basement where she stored the anti-tank missiles she fires. Chornovol says that before the war, the Ukrainian army left the route north of Kyiv open to invasion, even failing to mine bridges to stop a Russian advance. But what was done was simply criminal. There was no preparation for the invasion in order to prevent it. Kyiv was not fortified in any way.

The situation was even worse in the south. The Russians rolled into Kherson almost unimpeded. Jack Wadling is a leading analyst of the war. He works at the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank. A number of Ukrainian officers before the war started were very clear that they didn't have sufficient troops in the area, and they thought that was a major vulnerability. There was supposed to be about a brigade and a half of troops on that axis and they were not in position.

Certainly in the south, the level of collaboration with the Russians was higher than in other areas. Former leaders in the region also say an area near the border with Crimea was demined before the Russians invaded. Ivana Klimpush-Sensatsa is a Ukrainian lawmaker with the opposition European Solidarity Party. She says it's not certain exactly when this happened. But it seems that it's probably about 10 days before the full-scale invasion. Why would you do that at a time when your country's threatened with invasion and the

Pentagon saying they're going to come from every angle? We will be asking these questions right after the victory. People here blame the swift loss of the South on the SBU, Ukraine's intelligence service. In July, Zelensky fired the head of the SBU, Ivan Bakhanov. Bakhanov was a longtime friend of Zelensky's with no security experience. Daria Kalinuk says the episode illustrates the president's limitations. He's a good president of war. He mobilized citizens.

He's not a very good president during non-war period. And his largest weakness is that he trusts the people who are his friends, and he is not tolerating different opinions. Zelensky grew up in the southern industrial city of Krivori. Alina Fyalko-Small was an actor there at the time. She said Zelensky used to watch her troupe perform and sought advice on becoming a dramatic actor. She discouraged Zelensky, who stands under 5'6".

I said, Vova, you're small, you have a hoarse voice, you're useless. I said, go in some other direction. She suggested comedy. Zelensky studied law at Krivory Economic Institute. Natalia Voloshunyuk, a finance professor, recalled him as clever, funny, and self-confident. One day, she said, another professor was unhappy with his behavior and confronted Volodymyr in the hallway. She made a remark to him that he was doing something wrong. Then she said, you should be proud that you study at

this university. To which he replied, one day you will be proud that you taught me. Zelensky's career path has been audacious and inventive. Comedic actor, entertainment mogul, and now, most improbable, global symbol of democracy. Yermolenko, the Ukrainian philosopher, thinks Zelensky's shape-shifting nature is a way to understand him and to understand Ukraine since it became an independent country some three decades ago.

The Soviet Union collapsed. And out of this anarchy, we can create something new. So I think Zelensky is one of those people. The good thing is that these people think that impossible is nothing and you can create anything. The bad thing, he says, amateurs can end up in crucial positions. Yermolenko didn't vote for Zelensky. He's not sure he'll vote for him in the next election, whenever that is.

But he says this of Ukraine's president. People really recognize themselves in him, identify themselves with him, or he identifies himself with the people. And in the midst of this war, he says, that has been Zelensky's most important quality. That was NPR's Frank Langfet in Kherson, Ukraine. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Elsa Chang.