The ongoing war has thrown up a few admirable qualities of the Ukraine President
The game of brinksmanship being played out in the war theatre involving Russia and Ukraine is turning dangerous, though terming it slightly amusing would be an improper use of the expression amid the danse macabre. As deadly arsenal is being unpacked by Russia for possible use, primarily on Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the second largest city of Kharkiv, the latter’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is putting up a brave front amid reports of a 64-km-long Russian armoured convoy bearing down on central and eastern parts of his country. With Russia brazenly proclaiming that it would press ahead with the blitzkrieg until its “goals are met”, Zelenskiy has refused to be cowed saying that nothing or nobody can break his people and country. “We are strong, we are Ukrainians,” thundered the former producer-main lead of Ukrainian TV sitcom Servant of the People (which aired between 2015 and 2019 and was a massive hit a la our Ramayan and Mahabharat). Not betraying even the slightest hint of his days as the made-up-with-chalk-and-powder man, in fact displaying a sense of courage in the line of fire, he has categorically said Kyiv wasn’t prepared to make concessions when “one side is hitting another with rocket artillery”.
Even a few days back, just before the Russian invasion began, when he was offered a safe ticket out of Kyiv and promised evacuation on priority, he showed a quiet determination and resolve when he spoke about “not going anywhere…I am here…will be here with my people”. Whatever the respective shared histories of Russia and Ukraine vis-à -vis India, and there is a marked difference between the two (Israel and Russia are the only two countries that have always supported India on every issue, at every platform while Ukraine has never been a trustworthy ally; far from it, actually), the moot point remains that a good leader deserves everyone’s respect. In fact, it turns rather into admiration of sorts if one were to take into account the pummelling Zelenskiy is taking from all directions, and from sea, land and air. Russia has already started talking about unpacking its ‘Father Of All Bombs’ in the war against Ukraine as part of Putin’s “shock and awe” campaign. The super-powerful non-nuclear thermobaric bomb has a blast equivalent to more than 44 tonne of TNT. Putin may be a leader with bigger weaponry, but Zelenskiy’s boldness can’t be underplayed.