One an ex-spy, president, war criminal. The other an ex-actor, president, statesman. One entrenched himself in the bunker, the other visited the front. However, it is above all two scenes from the beginning of the war that are remembered by Putin and Zelenskyj.
A video from 2013 circulated on Twitter on New Year's Eve. It shows a New Year's celebration on Russian state television. The presenter is a certain Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian comedian and actor who is also extremely popular in Russia at the time. He sings and dances, makes jokes. Ten years later, Zelenskyy is President of Ukraine, which is under attack from the Russia that once applauded him. Some of those who sat in the audience in 2013 have become deadly enemies, such as Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, who broadcasts his hate messages on state television every day.
In the 2013 video, Zelenskyj has a young face and cheeky smile, he is clean-shaven and in a tuxedo. It bears no comparison to current images, which show a man who has changed greatly: with a serious, bearded face, deep wrinkles around his eyes, dressed in an olive green T-shirt or other military-looking clothing. A year of war changed Zelenskyy. Physically, of course, the constant pressure takes its toll. But the skeptical, even controversial president of Ukraine has also become a respected statesman.
By the time the full-scale attack on Ukraine began a year ago, Vladimir Putin was no longer a respected statesman. In a good 20 years in power, the Russian president has developed into a flawless dictator: Under the former KGB officer, freedom rights are suspended, opposition figures and those who think differently are persecuted and imprisoned, the country is plundered by a kleptocratic elite.
The Eastern Europe historian Karl Schlögel speaks of Putinism, a system of violence that includes the Soviet-Stalinist DNA as well as conspiracy myths about the "enemies of the people." And war, always war. During Putin's reign, there have been wars against Chechnya and Georgia, massive interventions in Syria and, since 2014, the attack on Ukraine, with the annexation of Crimea and military support for eastern Ukrainian separatists, including with troops. Finally, a year ago, the long-planned attack on the entire Ukraine followed.
War and violence, hatred and conspiracy myths culminate in two appearances that Putin made at the beginning of the war. In the first, on February 21, 2021, he announced the recognition of the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine. In the second, three days later, he justifies the attack on the neighboring country that has just begun. Both appearances are similar: The Kremlin boss is sitting at a desk, with flags and telephones in the background. Putin looks stooped, slumped, face bloated. His hands are on the tabletop, at times he almost holds onto it.
Both speeches are confused, hateful, ethnic nationalist attacks on the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine. Putin denies the country any "real statehood", describes Russians and Ukrainians as one people and paints a picture of a system ruled by Nazis, nationalists and corrupt oligarchs, which is controlled by the USA. "The purpose of this operation is to defend people who have suffered humiliation and genocide and the regime in Kiev for eight years," he says. There sits a dictator who has knitted his own reality, who distorts history and therefore sends his troops to war.
"We are not afraid of anything and nobody!" This is the Ukrainian President's reaction to Putin's February 21 speech. "We want peace," explains Zelenskyj. Vain. Russia attacks and the inexperienced head of state becomes a wartime president. Zelenskyi skilfully succeeds in setting the right tone in the first days of the war: he calls for battle, appeals to the world and asks the West for help. "We are prepared for everything, we will win," he says. He keeps calm, spreads optimism - and stays in Kiev. His response to the US offer to take him to safety is legendary: "I need ammo, not a ride." (I need ammo, not a ride.) It's unclear whether the sentence was actually uttered that way, but it sums up his stance well.
Selenskyj knows that he is in great danger: "According to our information, the enemy has declared me target number 1, my family target number 2," he says in a video message on the first day of the war. "I'll stay in the capital, stay with my people." Later there are reports of Russian special forces intended to kill the President.
But it is a short video message from the following day, February 25, that causes astonishment worldwide: The poorly lit selfie clip shows Zelenskyj with Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, the heads of the presidential administration and parliament and his chief adviser in front of the Kiev presidential building. "Good evening everyone," says the President and introduces those present. They are all in Kiev, the soldiers are here, the citizens, and everyone - whether men or women - will defend their independence together. "Slava Ukrajini," the group says, "honor to Ukraine." At the time, ntv.de said: "It is a film document that should shape the memory of this war for years to come." And in fact, the almost 30 seconds still give you goosebumps today. Ukraine's leaders are gathering in the midst of attacked Kiev to defend their country.
Putin's two television appearances and Zelensky's short video clip shared on social networks not only shape the perception of the beginning of the war, but also the image of the two politicians. The Ukrainian President keeps visiting the front, even the embattled Bakhmut. He looks at war crimes scenes, honors soldiers, encourages troops. And he receives foreign guests - including US President Joe Biden a few days ago. Zelenskyy even flies abroad twice: shortly before Christmas to Washington, in early February to London, Brussels and Paris.
And Putin? Most of the pictures show him indoors. Sometimes he talks to advisors or ministers, sometimes he honors war criminals, sometimes he gives a speech in front of a selected audience. He visits the Navy in St. Petersburg and the Victory Day parade in May. In September, while his troops in eastern Ukraine were fleeing a Ukrainian offensive, he inaugurated a Ferris wheel in Moscow. In November he meets the mothers of fallen soldiers - some of whom turn out to be pro-government politicians and civil servants. He never came near the front, at least nothing is known about it.
Putin's power has been shaken, and not only the head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is openly questioning the power elite. Meanwhile, Putin is hiding - there is enough speculation about his state of health. Selenskyj is still not without controversy, the EU only recently called for a stronger fight against corruption in the country. But his actions during the war, his video messages from Kiev, his visits to the front all played their part in the Ukrainians' will to persevere. In the greatest misfortune, Zelenskyj is a stroke of luck for his country.
