THE SHOWMAN

A veteran Kyiv-based correspondent for Time offers a nuanced portrait of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Show no mercy. Use all available weapons to wipe out every Russian thing that’s there.” So said Zelensky at the beginning of Russia’s invasion of his country, referring to Russian troops threatening to seize his capital’s airport. The Ukrainian military obliged, but those around Zelensky were surprised by the ferocity of his response; by Shuster’s account, the former comedian had become a steely leader overnight. He’d entered office under something of a cloud: Having promised not to take up residence in the president’s opulent quarters (but then doing just that), he aroused the anger of the political opposition and the press. The war soon followed, and it changed him. As Shuster writes, he “turned into a wartime president unique to our age of instant information,” one aspect of which was to keep his own counsel and rely less on his aides. That said, the author depicts Zelensky as somewhat of a naif. He had hoped, for example, that their shared background in show business would make Donald Trump more sympathetic to Ukraine’s cause, even as Trump proved himself to be a Putin cheerleader, particularly after cutting off funds when Zelensky sidelined his call for a probe into the Biden family. He also angered Joe Biden and other world leaders by his strident demands for more and more aid. Sensitive to criticism and, at one point, angry himself that world events seemed to have placed his nation in the middle of a power struggle between “these empires, the United States, Russia, China,” Zelensky has nonetheless clearly risen to the occasion—and, Shuster hopes, he will remain a resolute leader and guide his nation to victory.

A useful key for understanding a politician and tactician much in the news but little known.