Volodymyr Zelensky is the surprising hero of Ukraine’s resistance
Lesson summary
Hi there everyone, I’m Jeff and you are listening to Plain English, where JR and I help you upgrade your English with current events and trending topics. This is lesson number 462 of Plain English, and you can find today’s full lesson at PlainEnglish.com/462.
If this is your first time listening, then you’re in for a treat. People always remember the first time they listen, they remember the topic. So if that’s you, then welcome and enjoy. Most of you, though, are returning listeners and for you, I get to keep a promise. A few weeks ago, I said I’d tell you more about Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, and so that is what I will do today. In the second half of the lesson, I’ll tell you what it means to “stand out.” And we have a funny quote of the week about Florida. Let’s get started.
Actor-turned-president is advancing Ukraine’s cause
Volodymyr Zelensky is the president of Ukraine—for real. But before he got this job, he was the president of Ukraine on television.
The show was called “Servant of the People.” In the show, Zelensky plays a schoolteacher who is fed up with corruption in politics. He creates a social media video in which he’s complaining about corruption, and the video goes viral. And then he, the teacher, runs for the presidency and wins an improbable victory. Zelensky’s character is naïve, but honest; he eventually succeeds as president.
Then, Zelensky made the jump from playing a politician on TV to being one in real life. He, the real Zelensky, was also fed up with corruption in politics. And so he created a new political party in real life; that party was called—you guessed it—”Servant of the People.” In 2019, Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine.
Zelensky’s background as a performer has been a key to his success as a war leader. Both Russia and Ukraine are conducting an information war alongside the fighting war in the streets. Russia’s information war is based on misinformation, falsified “evidence”, and an iron-fisted control of media within its borders. Ukraine’s information war centers around Zelensky himself. He uses high-profile speeches and strategic media interviews to advance his cause.
Let’s first look at the speeches. These have not been the dull, polite policy speeches that world leaders often given when speaking to an international crowd. Instead , they have been deeply personal appeals for help. And Zelensky is not shy about telling the world’s parliaments and presidents that they’re not doing enough to help.
In a video address to the Canadian Parliament, Zelensky asked how Canadians would feel if Russia bombed Vancouver or destroyed the CN Tower in Toronto . He described Ukrainian memorials that have been destroyed and said, “Every night is a horrible night.”
Days later , in a video address to the U.S. Congress, Zelensky showed a graphic video of war victims. He said that Ukraine has been suffering attacks like September 11 every night; at that point, the war was already three weeks long. Though he spoke primarily through a translator, he closed his speech with a direct appeal to Joe Biden. He said Biden was the leader of a great nation, but that he needed to be the leader of the world.
Zelensky has also addressed legislatures in Greece, Finland, Australia, the U.K., Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, and others. And he wasn’t repeating the same speech each time. In the U.K., he quoted Winston Churchill. In France, he cited the country’s founding principles of liberté, égalité, fraternité. In Japan, he talked about nuclear disaster, in Germany the fall of the Berlin Wall, in America 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. He pointed out that Russian leaders vacation in Italy, and then told the Italian Chamber of Deputies not to be the resort for murderers. Zelensky also addressed the United Nations and directly accused Russia of war crimes.
In these speeches, and in many more private conversations, Zelensky has been asking directly for two things: weapons and a no-fly zone over Ukraine. A “no-fly zone” would mean another country would shoot down any plane in the sky over Ukraine. No country is willing to do that and risk direct fighting conflict with Russia, so the answer has always been “no,” no matter how passionate the appeal. In the case of weapons, the West has provided mostly defensive arms. Zelensky is grateful, but he’s not shy about telling presidents and prime ministers that they’re not doing enough.
Another part of Zelensky’s strategy has been a whirlwind media tour from Kyiv, the besieged capital. He hosted two editors from The Economist for a one-on-one interview. This was intended to reach the policymakers and leaders who read that newspaper. Then, he gave an interview to 60 Minutes, a long-running American weekly news program. In it, he said, “We are defending the right to live. I never thought that right was so costly.” That interview was intended to influence to American public opinion.
Most surprising, though, was his outreach to Russia. On March 28, he gave an interview to four independent Russian journalists. In the interview, he sharply criticized the Russian government, but he also opened the door to a potential compromise to end the war. He said Ukraine would be willing to remain neutral between the West and Russia and would not pursue nuclear weapons.
Predictably, media regulators in Moscow didn’t appreciate the interview. They banned the broadcast of the interview in Russia and promised to investigate the media outlets that distributed it. But the interview is available on Telegram. And the most popular apps in Russia are now Telegram and VPN apps that help people get around Russian media censorship.
One other thing stands out about Zelensky’s media appearances, and that is his dress. The Ukrainian president doesn’t wear the typical uniform of world leaders—you, know, the formal business suit, crisp white shirt, and neutral tie. Instead, he appears in a tight-fitting olive green t-shirt, sometimes with an olive-green jacket or sweatshirt over it. The t-shirts give him an everyman appearance: here’s someone who’s hard at work defending his country in a war; he doesn’t have time to play dress-up for the cameras.
In a lighthearted moment, one interviewer asked him about his shirts. She asked if he had them all before the war. Zelensky responded that he did have shirts in this style before, just not quite as many as he has now.
Get your own Zelensky t-shirt
The t-shirts are a hit online. On Amazon, Etsy, and other online platforms, you can buy olive green t-shirts. The ads for the shirts say, “Ukrainian President Zelensky Tee” and “Ukrainian Symbol T-Shirt.” One cheeky ad says, “As Seen On TV.” Many of the sellers pledge to send part of their earnings to Ukraine.
Netflix had the show “Servant of the People” in its streaming library until 2021; they recently brought it back, at least in the U.S. So you can watch the real-life president, real-life war leader, play a president on TV back before he became a politician.
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