“I need ammunition, not a ride.”
That was Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, speaking to an American Intelligence official from an active war zone. Often seen walking through his war-torn cities, garbed in simple military gear but armed to the teeth in the art of communication, Zelensky has managed to unite the entire world in the face of Russian aggression and war crimes. Skillfully narrating the violent realities of a ravaged Ukraine on social media and in front of international audiences, Zelensky dominates the realm of public opinion, reinvigorating NATO and humanity in unprecedented ways. In a war rapidly becoming one of attrition, he captures the attention of the world and focuses it against President Vladimir Putin, the tyrant conducting the atrocities in Ukraine.
Transformed into a war-leader seemingly overnight, Zelensky is tasked with fighting the struggle of the Tyrant versus the Comedian: the epic battle to assert or remove the sovereignty of Ukraine. Breaking the precedent established by countless leaders before him, his resume reads “actor” rather than “politician.” However, it is this very past of his that lends itself surprisingly well to this dehumanizing war. Leading a nation in the performance of a lifetime, Zelensky channels the greatest skills learned from his comedic beginnings to rally an embattled nation and an apathetic world against an oppressor, demonstrating the power of the red carpet.
Can the comedian save his country’s future? Or is Ukraine tumbling toward an apocalyptic end?
Comedy: Humanity’s Veritaserum
Performance and comedy break the barriers of political correctness by cutting through pandering and precision with honest, unsparing truth. Take, for example, Hasan Minhaj on his previous show, “The Patriot Act” — a comedy series that combined the farcical nature of reality with a call for action and social justice. In humorous bits exposing the truth behind current events, many episodes reached the point of angering governments, causing some nations, such as Saudi Arabia, to ban episodes. President Zelensky employs the same skills to represent the present reality on the world stage. Whether jokes are told by comedians on a stage or political commentators on the big screen, comedy is the key to unlocking the truth with its ability to speak what must be spoken and ensure that others listen.
Despite graduating with a law degree, Zelensky made his first mark on Ukrainian society through comedic enterprises. He produced and starred in a television series titled “Servant of the People,” where he played a high school teacher who goes viral for his tirade on corruption — then becomes President of Ukraine. The series was eerily prophetic: Volodymyr Zelensky was soon elected as Ukraine’s president in 2019 on a ballot of exposing and removing historical corruption.
At this intersection of comedic performance and political leadership, Zelensky is able to break free from bureaucratic machinations and make the bold, intentional moves required by leadership in a war zone to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty remains intact. He can ask, directly, what has never been asked and walk over the stuffy, pretentious precedents of his overly posh international peers.
His speech to the United Nations’ Security Council’s Special Session detailing the atrocities of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine offers a prime example. From his intense hand-motions to his clarity in thought, Zelensky’s speech was the work of an artist, mercilessly cutting through the political banter and pretension of the UN actors. His provision of graphic visuals and documentaries gives a face to the statistics of lives lost and people injured. Zelensky’s every word carries the power of an entire nation, effectively mobilizing the usually stagnant world leaders into a proactive force of unprecedented economic and military action.
Since that time, he has continued to state the hard truths where most politicians would have been busy screaming into the void of political correctness. Sending video addresses on some of the most public occasions, Zelensky doesn’t miss an opportunity to remind the world what the truth is. In a recorded address at the Golden Globes he stated, “There will be no third World War, it is not a trilogy. Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land.” With powerful language reminding the audience of the fear and destruction of past wars coupled with a reminder of the role Ukraine is playing in the balance of geopolitical tensions, Zelensky’s performance elicited the necessary emotions to cement support against Russia’s tyrannical war. Speaking directly to the most powerful people in America’s entertainment industry, he aptly captured just what is at stake in this perpetual tragedy.
But is this enough?
Twin Pillars: Leadership and Comedy
Given the unstable nature of a career in the entertainment industry, barring nepotism babies and viral celebrities, performers often live on the edge, gambling their livelihood with every performance until they either make it or break it. However, the comedian’s dramatic lifestyle plays a critical role in Volodymyr Zelensky’s stability in the face of unprecedented aggression. His past performance and present prowess are indicative of the force of leadership and comedy, one that is humanizing and authentic in a realm of petty banter. For the Ukrainians, each time Zelensky proudly projects their stories on the international stage cements their national identity and gives a voice to their shared histories.
Despite his relative newness to international politics, Zelensky deftly wields his words as an all-encompassing weapon. His eloquence, wit, and humanity — learned from his time in the entertainment industry — coalesce with his rapidly expanding knowledge of stagecraft to make him a truly moving actor on the political theater’s stage. In an interview with the HPR, Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department at Fordham University, Olena Nikolayenko, highlighted an incredible irony: “Western analysts had predicted that the Russian troops would move very swiftly.” Though tasked with marking the trends of the world and protecting national security, these analysts failed to register the true potency of Zelensky’s leadership. His rise to the top of Ukrainian politics was seen as nothing more than a comedic farce, soon to be crushed by the Russian military machine. His comedic, performative background was underestimated and undervalued. What analysts failed to see was that no matter how low the Russian tyrant would stoop, the Ukrainian performer would soar higher.
Zelensky is a leader who goes to the frontline, where the battle rages. He shows the world that this fight has tangible, lived consequences and is battled by real people whose spirit will not be broken by unjust oppression. As New York Times’ Journalists Marc Santora and Anton Troianovski wrote, “President Volodymyr Zelensky’s unannounced visit” to Bakhmut to rally soldiers “was perhaps his most daring visit to the front lines since Russia invaded Ukraine, and a demonstration of defiance in the face of Moscow’s ceaseless assault against the ravaged eastern city.” Zelensky proves that no matter the level of brutality, the comedian will never lose face, never back down, and never be broken.
Servant of the People
In the boxing ring of public opinion against one of the most pervasive propaganda machines in the world, Zelensky has been defying predictions of loss since day one. His passion and charisma not only unites his people at home, but those abroad, as well as members of the greater international community. Professor Nikolayenko emphasized how, “Every evening he records a brief message that was posted on the official YouTube channel of the president. Every day for the past seven months to keep the people updated and to report on what he has done during that day.” While most wartime leaders sit around the fatal war table and talk statistics and strategy, Zelensky doesn’t forget who is really bearing the brunt of the war. He remembers that the reality of this tragic battle is on the ground with the Ukrainian people, his people.
Millions upon millions of lives rest on Zelensky’s shoulders, rest on his ability to fight for them in the court of public opinion. For, it is in those courts where judgements concerning international aid — oftentimes a matter of life or death — are decided. In an interview with the HPR, Dr. George Soroka, a lecturer at Harvard University, supplements this assessment, noting that “Zelensky and those around him are not afraid to name and shame — they are taking this battle very much into the court of global public opinion.”
Zelensky showcased this bravery by making his first trip out of the homeland to speak to the United States Congress. Avoiding simply begging for arms or stepping on the hairpin trigger embedded in American politics, Zelensky’s address reaffirms his expertise in performance. As Masha Gessen wrote in her New Yorker column, “Speaking on Capitol Hill, Zelensky took care not to put members of Congress on the defensive — he is a performer always keenly aware of his audience, and this time he was speaking to people who have the power to save his country or doom it by withholding aid. Gessen continued, “Instead of calling out congresspeople, he appealed to their political self-interest, telling them that by protecting Ukraine they would protect American democracy.”
This willingness to fight back against politicians’ typical hesitance, perhaps compounded by his newness to politics, has allowed him to successfully secure volunteer troops from around the world and promises of innovative military technology. His ability to secure a constant and increasing supply of military and economic assistance from allied nations is nothing short of a diplomatic wonder. Despite the full might of the Russian regime denying the existence of a sovereign Ukraine, he has effectively maintained Ukrainian national identity and the dignity of his people.
This dignity transcends borders, infusing itself everywhere — even at Harvard. In an interview with the HPR, Yana Hubyak ‘24, a Ukrainian student at the College, detailed how important Zelensky’s leadership has been to the Ukrainian community abroad. Despite Yana’s permanent move to America, she retains many of her connections to her homeland. She recalls Zelensky’s election, particularly her family’s lack of confidence in his leadership as they navigated a race largely considered to be a vote between two terrible choices.
The 2019 election was a political fight between a former-president semi-oligarch who had already been president in a nation that appreciates rapid political turnover and Zelensky, a comedian who developed skits around the dysfunction of the Ukrainian government. Dr. Emily Channell-Justice, Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at Harvard University, told the HPR that Zelensky “was different because he was not an oligarch. She also noted that he is “ different because of how he engages with people.”
Despite her family’s initial reservations, Zelensky’s leadership has inspired deep familial unity for Yana and her loved ones. She has been “happily surprised by Zelensky’s wartime leadership and his ability to step into his new role.” She feels that despite the distance she can still connect with her nation during this violent time and claims to be “proud of the symbol that Zelensky has become abroad.” According to Yana, Zelensky’s background in the entertainment industry has allowed him to effectively connect Ukrainians from around the world and bring about a more personal meaning of the atrocities for those who are not physically experiencing them. With Zelensky’s power of performance, Yana states that promises and feelings of hope abound that “make it feel like there is an end to the injustice.”
Zelensky’s election and rule came as a pleasant surprise amidst a political history of power-hungry oligarchs. The Zelensky rule has been the rise of the underdog, one who understands what many did not — that Ukraine’s livelihood, heartbeat, and existence lie with the people. Today the underdog continues to capture the eyes of the world, and serve as the servant of the people.
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Leading the nation as a war-time leader, Zelensky calls forward the skills from his past to lead his nation to victory. With the empathy of an artist, he fights to ensure that his people are not relegated to the annals of history as tragic statistics. With the bravery of a performer, he refuses to leave the nation, despite cries to do so for his safety. Zelensky’s unfaltering performance gives Ukrainians hope amidst vulnerability, triumph despite defeat, and laughter throughout despair.
Zelensky transforms performance into service, fighting for peace on the battlefield, within his people, and on the international stage. In this epic battle between Tyrant and Comedian, only one can rise to the top. For the sake of the Ukrainians and the entire international world order, let’s hope the tyrant topples.
