When Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24th the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and his troops then began doing so and attacking Ukraine, hours later U.S. officials told Ukraine’s young and rather new President Volodymyr Zelenskyy they could immediately fly him out of Ukraine to safety. He replied, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” In fact, the former comedian and actor had already played this part, so he knew it quite well as a courageous man committed to Ukraine’s survival.
You have to wonder if this is divine providence about this Jewish man Zelenskyy. He starred in a Ukraine, televised, satirical series that ran for three years and was titled “Servant of the People.” It begins with Zelenskyy’s character being a normal school teacher guy who began speaking out against Ukraine’s corruption, especially in politics. That theme of the script actually reflected the current state of affairs in Ukraine. The filming continued with the school teacher’s friends telling him he should try to do something about this corruption by becoming president of the nation. The school teacher did, won the election, and became president. The series ended when Mr. Zelenskyy actually did like his TV character by campaigning for the presidency of Ukraine with a political party he created himself, naming it Servant of the People.
What is surprising is that Zelenskyy then actually campaigned for Ukraine’s presidency like the character in his TV series, mostly speaking out against Ukraine’s corruption. Amazingly, that is what actually had been keeping Ukraine, the largest nation in Europe, from being accepted as a member in the European Union (EU) and in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for decades. If Ukraine had been a member in these two entities, there very likely would not be this Putin War in Ukraine.
So, President Zelenskyy has now truly proved himself to be a Servant of the People of Ukraine like no other head of state has in recent memory. (Recall that U.S. President Donald Trump phoned President Zelenskyy and pressured him to get dirt on his political opponent Joe Biden in what Trump called “a perfect call” that got him impeached.) Mr. Zelenskyy has become the epitome of courage and skillfulness in trying to keep his nation Ukraine surviving as an independent democracy and thus not made a part of Russia.
Zelenskyy constantly uses his communication and acting skills in soliciting aid, such as weapons and ammunition, from democratic governments, especially those in the EU and NATO, so that Ukraine’s military and volunteering men can defend Ukraine against this Russian aggression directed by Mr. Putin, whom U.S. President Joe Biden last week called “a butcher.”
(The TV series was turned into a film that is now being licensed, including to Netflix.)
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