The Chief Communicator

In a video addressed to the nation this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy brought his cell phone close to the camera and launched a timer app while an anti-aircraft siren sounded. Ouioooooooouuuuuuuuu. “It lasted 20 seconds,” Zelenskiy said, after the hooting declined. “And we listened to it for hours, days, weeks. Our people... grab their children, help the elderly and go to shelters... to survive, from Russian missiles, from bombs.” Simple scenery, strong message.

Sitting at his desk, unshaven and wearing his already characteristic green shirt, Zelenskiy had reminded 44 million Ukrainians in a few sentences that he was going through the same thing as them, while renewing pressure on NATO to impose a no-fly zone.

He's a magician of audience reading. He gives each one the right words to move them. In general, it conquers with its simplicity and empathy. The Americans are reminded of what Pearl Harbor or 9/11 was like for them to understand what Ukrainians are going through. He talks to the British about Nazi bombing and Churchill's “blood, sweat and tears”. It reminds the Israelis that Golda Meir was born in Kiev and that many of those who built that state were Ukrainians.

Wars are won both by war superiority and by propaganda. Zelensky has already won this confrontation against Putin and by far. He staged the David who defeats the almighty Goliath who comes to attack him. His communication skills are extraordinary, his handling of cameras and social networks sublime. “He is undoubtedly already one of the best wartime communicators in history,” says the expert on the subject, Leonardo Trevisan, from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.

Its approval ratings within Ukraine skyrocketed as the Russian invasion enters its second month. The successful resistance was largely achieved by his speech giving encouragement to his compatriots. He managed to rally the nation around the flag while thousands of civilians took up arms. Outside Ukraine it is so or even more popular. He is praised by top leaders and people who stick to the TV every time he shows up. It looks close and authentic.

Yes, he was an actor and he knows how to handle himself with cameras. They are 44 years old and know perfectly well how to move on social networks. He was a producer used to convincing. He's a lawyer used to litigating. He was also particularly concerned with his speeches since he launched himself into politics. Iuliia Mendel, Zelenskiy's spokeswoman for the first two years of her presidency (2019/21), told Reuters that she “always put a lot of time and effort into her messages. It's not something that came up with the war.” And according to Mendel, he is very versatile and able to change a speech, leaving aside what he has written to speak directly to the audience. “Now you can just grab your phone and make a selfie video, not caring much about the lighting or that you haven't shaved,” added the young former official.

The more informal environment brought him closer to people, “because when everyone is suffering so much it would be very strange if he tried to look official, wearing a suit and tie as if he were visiting the White House,” according to Mendel. While perfecting his role as the face of the Ukrainian resistance dressed in a fajina and without any military tinsel, wearing the same military green t-shirt and a face tired from sleepless days, he made passionate speeches on a virtual “tour” of the world's parliaments to try to prevent the dissipation of international outrage against Moscow. “He knows that he must continue to find new ways to keep the Russian invasion at the center of global public debate and on its terms. And I think that's what he's done very well so far, but it's harder the longer it goes by,” said Alastair Campbell, who was the spokesman for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a Telegraph note.

Volodymir Oleksandrovich Zelenskia (in Ukrainian, Volodymir Oleksandrovich Zelensky), was born in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in January 1978, while he was still under the Soviet Union. He studied law, but left the career to become an actor, screenwriter, producer and director of film and television. He created a production company, Kvartal 95, which designed a successful television series called “Servant of the People”, in which Zelensky played the role of president of Ukraine. The character who ironized about the Ukrainian political class, corruption and the Soviet mentality became very popular. In March 2018, a little jokingly a little seriously, an anti-system political party with the same name as his company, Kvartal95, was built around him.

He announced his candidacy for the presidential election on the night of December 31, 2018. He used New Year's Eve to overshadow and mock President Petro Poroshenko's end-of-year speech. He ended up winning the elections in the second round by 73.22%. In May 2019, he became the sixth Ukrainian president since independence in 1991. In the next two years he devoted himself to trying to clean up the state apparatus without much success. The parliament continued to be dominated by the old policy that prevented it from any reform. The war in the Donbas was not going well either. At the end of 2021, 14,000 people were killed by the clashes. Its popularity was falling at cruising speed.

With the threat of Putin, who began a year ago to accumulate troops and tanks on the Ukrainian border, Zelensky found a space where he could move more skillfully. Although there was no shortage of criticism. Under martial law, his security and defense council temporarily banned Russia-like political parties, one of which holds a considerable number of seats in parliament and which always accused him of wanting to silence the opposition. It also effectively shut down private television channels by unifying coverage into a single state-run broadcaster that broadcasts on a network.

They also accuse him of having locked himself in a circle mostly made up of former friends from the television era. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, now deputy director of Zelenskiy's office, founded a company that produced ads for the political campaign. His environment in Kiev also includes his powerful chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, close adviser Mykhailo Podolyak and David Arakhamia, who heads the presidential party faction in parliament.

Everyone is as skilled as he is in handling communication. A video in which he introduced his team at the beginning of the conflict was viewed almost 15 million times on Instagram. According to the research group Rating, the president's approval rating in Ukraine has tripled to 91% since December, while 93% of Ukrainians believe they will win the war.

On a global level, it also won a huge audience that fills it with praise. British historian Andrew Roberts compared it to Winston Churchill in a note he published in the phlegmatic The Times. Harvard Political Review said Zelenski “harnessed the power of social media to become the first truly online leader in wartime history.” Deutsche Welle, Der Spiegel, USA Today, BBC News and The Guardian called him a “global hero”.

Since the invasion began on February 24, Zelesnky was the target of several assassination attempts; three were disrupted by warnings from Russian employees of the secret service, the FSB, who are opposed to the war. Two such attempts were carried out by the Russian paramilitaries of the Wagner Group and the third by the Kadyrovites, the personal guard of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

All this enlarged Zelensky's figure. Although he knows that he is still the most wanted target of Russian mercenaries. They say Putin put several million dollars over his head. Zelensky defends himself with what is his most powerful weapon, his image and his connection with Ukrainians and the rest of the world through social networks.

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