Zelensky sends a message: We will defend our country 1:19
(CNN Spanish) --
Volodymyr Zelensky is the atypical president of Ukraine who decided not only to stay with his people in the middle of a "great war" but also encourages them to continue in the trenches to fight against the rain of missiles arriving from the Russian front.
It does so in a very particular way, taking advantage of social networks as a tool in this war that is being waged in an interconnected world.
With a narrative of resistance - in the style of Winston Churchill during World War II, as analyzed by CNN's Stephen Collinson - he speaks to Ukrainians in the first person through videos posted on his Facebook account that he records from the streets of Kyiv surrounded by his team.
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He is seen by many as providing inspirational leadership, which has been sorely lacking in recent times around the world with some leaders who during the pandemic put their political goals above the public good and refused to follow the public health rules they imposed on their citizens. .
Others cast him as a counterpart to former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled Kabul when the Taliban attacked the capital last summer.
Zelensky is determined to stay and fight alongside his people, even when he is the Kremlin's number one target.
Zelensky went from a comedian who played a fictional president to a real-life president now facing a pivotal moment in his country's history.
Here's a look at the figure of this atypical leader.
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"Ukraine is united... This is our victory"
From parody president to real president
Before becoming the president of Ukraine, Zelensky was an actor and comedian.
He himself acted in the popular series "Servant of the People," a political satire where he played a history teacher who becomes president of Ukraine after one of his students shoots a video about corruption that goes viral.
"Finally", he said in the series.
"Ukraine is united... This is our victory"
Zelensky used his parodic role as a platform for his real-life political campaign and in 2019, a month after the series finale, reality was stranger than fiction.
The comedian became the president of Ukraine winning with more than 70% of the vote.
Before becoming the president of Ukraine, Zelensky was an actor and comedian.
"Hang up photos of your children and look at them every time you are making a decision"
Photos of families in public offices
When he came to power and with his particular style, Zelensky asked all those who work in his government not to use him as an example, but to use their own families to make the best decisions for the country.
“We will build the country of other opportunities, the one where everyone is equal before the law and where all the rules are honest and transparent, the same for everyone.
And for that we need people in power who serve the people.
That's why I really don't want my photos in his offices, because the president is not an icon, an idol or a portrait.
Hang up the photos of his children and look at them every time you are making a decision," Zelensky said during his 2019 inaugural address.
"How am I going to be a Nazi? Tell my grandfather"
Descendant of Holocaust survivors
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government have repeatedly made unfounded and inaccurate claims that the Ukrainian government is a "fascist" or "Nazi" regime.
Putin paints Zelensky as a "neo-Nazi" even though he is Jewish and members of his family died in the holocaust.
"It seems that it will be easier for us to come to an agreement (with you) than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have settled in Kyiv and taken the entire Ukrainian people hostage," Putin said when he called on Ukrainians to overthrow their president.
"How can I be a Nazi," says Ukraine's president on Russia's accusations that Ukrainians are Nazis
"It is said that we are Nazis. How can a nation that gave 8 million lives to fight it support Nazism? How am I going to be a Nazi? Let them tell my grandfather," Zelensky replied during a speech published on his account. facebook official.
And he recalled, right there, that his grandfather was "throughout the war in the infantry of the Soviet Army and died as a colonel in the independent Ukraine."
"They tell you that we hate Russian culture? How can anyone hate culture? Any culture? Neighbors are always culturally enriched, but that doesn't make them one, it doesn't dissolve us into you," the president continued. ukrainian
"We are different. But it is not a reason to be enemies."
"I need ammunition, not a ride"
Zelensky rejects US offer and stays in Ukraine
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, and to date, Zelensky has not fled, as confirmed by himself.
This despite the fact that the US State Department assures that it remains a "main target for Russian aggression."
Even the United States government itself offered Zelensky a rescue operation to evacuate him but he rejected the offer and gave an answer that has already become iconic: "The fight is here. What I need is ammunition, not a ride," according to the Embassy of Ukraine in Great Britain.
Zelensky sends a message: We will defend our country 1:19
"We will not lower our weapons"
Zelensky defiantly puts up a fight
Zelensky has shown a command of social media, tools that have become essential in this war that came during a time when the world is interconnected.
Since the Russian invasion of his country began, the President of Ukraine has been very active on these platforms, using his Twitter account to post updates and assure Ukrainians that he will stay in the country to lead the resistance.
In a video posted early on Saturday, February 26, titled "don't believe falsehoods," Zelensky revealed that he was still in Kyiv.
"Here I am.
We will not lower our weapons.
We will be defending our country, because our weapon is the truth, and our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will defend all of this.”
With reporting from CNN's Anna Chernova, Kara Fox, Helen Regan, Nathan Hodge, Stephen Collinson, Joshua Berlinge and Sharon Braithwaite
War in Ukraine Russian invasion of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky
