WEBVTT

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Welcome back to the deep dive. This is the place

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where we take that sprawling, often contradictory

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stack of sources you send us and really distill

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it into the essential knowledge you need to be

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truly well -informed. And today we are diving

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into a story that is, and I don't think this

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is an exaggeration, genuinely unprecedented in

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modern political history. Yeah, it's a life trajectory

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so wild it feels, well, it feels like it was

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cribbed from a screenplay. Exactly. It's the

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story of Volodymyr Oleksandrovich Zelensky, the

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sixth president of Ukraine. I mean, if you look

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at the source material, you see a figure whose

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entire identity from his background to his professional

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success was just completely rooted in comedy

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and popular entertainment. And then suddenly

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he's forced by these massive historical events

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to become the global face of wartime resilience.

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It's that transition. That's the core paradox

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where I'm packing today. The shift from, you

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know, a massively successful comedian and media

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mogul to a wartime leader. We've got sources

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that track him from his birth. in 1978, what

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was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,

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through this completely anti -establishment political

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rise, his assumption of office in May 2019 and

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then right up to the present day. And crucially,

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his term has been legally extended because of

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the necessity of ongoing martial law. I mean,

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that fact alone makes him the second longest

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serving Ukrainian president after Leonid Kuchma.

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So our mission today is really to navigate that

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transformation. We want you to understand not

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just what happened, but how the specific skills

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he developed as a showman, you know, his mastery

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of communication, his ability to read an audience,

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leveraging media, how all of that suddenly became

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indispensable. Right. These weren't just nice

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-to -haves. They became the essential tools for

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a head of state facing an existential military

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threat. Okay, let's unpack this epic journey.

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We're starting with Section 1, the making of

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the showman. We start not in Kiev, but in Kriviri.

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What's immediately striking about Zelensky's

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earliest years, when you look at the sources,

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is just the layered complexity of his background.

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I mean, geographically, culturally and historically.

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It really speaks volumes about the overlapping

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identities of modern Ukraine. He was born in

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1978 in Krivyi Rih, which is a large industrial

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city. And predominantly Russian speaking. Right.

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Very much so. It's in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

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His family was also Russian speaking and Jewish.

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His mother worked as an engineer and his father

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is a highly accomplished professor and a computer

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scientist. So right away, this is not the background

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of a stereotypical nationalist political figure.

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Not at all. And then you have this unexpected

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geographical twist in his childhood that almost

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nobody. talks about. I was just about to bring

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that up. He didn't spend all his early years

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there. No, not at all. Before he was even eight

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years old, he actually spent four years living

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abroad. Abroad where? In Erdanet, Mongolia of

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all places. His father was a mining engineer

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and had taken up a post there. So it's just this

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interesting detail. The future president of Ukraine

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was absorbing these totally different cultural

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landscapes in his formative years, well outside

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the typical Soviet sphere. But then his family

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history. also carries this profound immediate

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weight, especially when you think about the future

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rhetoric that would be directed at him by the

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Kremlin. Oh, this is absolutely critical context.

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His paternal grandfather was an infantryman in

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the Red Army during World War II. He actually

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achieved the rank of colonel. But on the other

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side of that story. It's just tragic. His great

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-grandfather and three of his great -uncles were

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murdered in the Holocaust. The sources say his

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great -grandparents were killed when German troops

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set their home ablaze during a massacre. Horrific.

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Yeah. And his grandmother, on the other hand,

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survived because she was evacuated deep into

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Central Asia to Almaty in Kazakhstan. So just

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to recap for a second, we have a man who is Russian

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speaking with a deep family history of service

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in the Soviet military fighting the Nazis and

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a direct tragic connection to the Holocaust.

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I mean, it sets up this incredible historical

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irony for what happens decades later, doesn't

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it? It just positions him as someone who understands

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the complexity of the region's history, not as

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some kind of political ideologue. Despite this

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incredibly rich background, his initial educational

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path was actually very traditional. He got a

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law degree from the Criviere Institute of Economics.

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He did, but the sources are very clear on this.

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He never once practiced law. He pivoted, and

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he pivoted quickly. There's an interesting early

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detail in there too, right, about his independence.

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Yes, a great little anecdote. At age 16, he received

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a prestigious education grant to go study in

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Israel. Wow, at 16. Yeah, but his father prevented

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him from accepting the offer. And while he followed

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his father's wishes at that moment, his life's

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trajectory immediately shifted away from that

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academic path and straight toward comedy and

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performance. And that launch pad was KVN, the

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Club of the Cheerful and Resourceful. For anyone

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listening who might not be familiar with post

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-Soviet culture, can you just break down what

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KVN was and why it was so influential? Right.

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KVN wasn't just some college talent show. It

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was the cultural institution for humor and satire

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across the entire former Soviet bloc. It was

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huge. It was massive, highly competitive, centralized

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in Moscow, and unbelievably popular. Zelensky

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started when he was just 17. And by 1997, his

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team, which was called Zaporizhzhia -Krivaya

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Retransit, had won the major league. And the

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audience for that we're talking about. Tens of

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millions of people. Tens of millions. That success

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led directly to him forming his own company,

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Kvartal 95, named after his childhood neighborhood.

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So Kvartal 95 was founded in 97, the same year.

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Exactly. And in those early years, they were

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just relentless. They were constantly touring,

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performing the highest open leagues of KVN. The

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sources detail, they had some really rough times.

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They were often the only major Ukrainian team

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in that top Moscow -based league. And sometimes

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they were living without fixed addresses in Moscow

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while they were on tour. And this is where we

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find a really defining early moment of integrity,

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one that you could argue foreshadows his political

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independence later on. I'm talking about the

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split from the KVN management in 2003. This wasn't

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just a business disagreement. Not at all. No,

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it was a moment of profound principle. they split

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because of these prolonged mounting tensions.

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The sources cite a few key reasons, disputes

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over money, which is pretty standard, but also

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issues with political censorship being imposed

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by the Russian management. And there was a specific

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incident, wasn't there? A very ugly one. Yes,

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a highly notable incident involving a Russian

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KVN producer who used an anti -Semitic insult

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against Zelensky during a show. And after all

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this tension, He had a clear choice laid out

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before him, right? A very comfortable, very lucrative

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choice for him personally. He did. He was offered

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a highly paid individual job by the Russian KVN

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management. But there was a condition. He had

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to abandon his team. He had to abandon his entire

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team, Kafartal 95, and he refused. He turned

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down the offer, choosing to prioritize the integrity

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of his team and his own creative independence,

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and he returned to Ukraine. That's a crucial

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data point, isn't it? Years before he even thought

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about politics, he showed he was willing to take

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a significant financial and professional risk

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for principle and for loyalty. A huge risk. So

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once he's back in Kiev, Kvartal 95 doesn't just

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survive, it explodes into what the sources call

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an empire or a comedy factory. It truly dominated

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the Ukrainian media landscape. Kvartal 95 studio

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became the most successful production studio

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in Ukraine, period. Their flagship show, Evening

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Fartal, was the most popular comedy. show of

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the 2000 and the viewership numbers were just

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staggering by the time he ran for president it

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was reportedly seen by over 85 percent of ukrainians

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it was just a cultural touchstone and they were

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also generating international formats this shows

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some serious creative business acumen Absolutely.

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They weren't just locally successful. They created

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a show called Make the Comedian Laugh, where

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contestants try to make Zelensky and one other

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comedian laugh to win money. I remember seeing

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clips of this. That format was so successful

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that in 2018 he stated it had been sold to 21

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countries. We're talking places like China, Italy,

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Finland. This level of international media sophistication

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is highly unusual for a future politician. Now,

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we do have to address the extensive Russian ties

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that existed. right up until 2014 because that

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popularity it was huge on both sides of the border

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he was a genuine cross -border celebrity i mean

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prior to 2014 he was extremely popular in russia

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he hosted the russian x factor in 2011 he was

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hosting these massive new year's eve shows on

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russia one in 2013. he was also a major figure

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in ukrainian media management itself Right. He

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was the general producer for the Inter TV channel

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from 2010 to 2012, where he launched something

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like 30 new formats. He was a powerhouse. And

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there's that other story, the one about the attempted

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bribe from the previous administration, which

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indicates that his reputation for independence

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was already known in political circles. That's

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another one of those key moments of integrity

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that the sources cite. In 2018, Zelensky claimed

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that the administration of then President Viktor

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Yanukovych had offered him a staggering amount

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of money. A hundred million dollars. A hundred

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million dollars in exchange for political control

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over Kvartal 95's programs. And he stated he

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flatly refused the offer. So it reinforces this

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narrative that he resisted political co -option,

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even when the stakes were extraordinarily high.

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But that relationship with Russia, the professional

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one, it came to an immediate and very costly

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end after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. It

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was a clean break. Kovartol 95 closed its Moscow

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office. All of its Russian business ties were

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shut down and Zelensky stopped working in Russia

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professionally by the end of 2014. And the financial

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consequence was severe. Severe and immediate.

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He estimated that this one decision slashed Kvartal

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95's average revenue per hour of television programming

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from around $200 ,000 down to just $30 ,000.

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Wow. I mean, that is an enormous financial sacrifice.

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It really confirms the depth of his commitment

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to Ukraine's position following that first invasion.

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And he didn't just cut ties. He replaced that

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commercial relationship with a patriotic one,

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quickly aligning his company with the war effort

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in Donbass. He did. That decision really... cemented

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his image as a national figure committed to Ukrainian

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sovereignty. From 2014 onward, Kvartal 95 started

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performing for Ukrainian soldiers in the war

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zone, and his studio reportedly donated a million

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rivnias to the Ukrainian army. And that, predictably,

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provoked outrage in Russia. Oh, yeah. It led

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to some Russian politicians petitioning for a

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total ban on his works there. This national turn

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also had an effect on the language he worked

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in, which had, up to that point, been predominantly

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Russian. Yes, while Russian was his first language

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and most of his productions were in Russian,

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his first acting role performed entirely in the

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Ukrainian language was in a 2018 romantic comedy

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called Me, You, He, She. The sources have a really

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interesting note on the production of that film.

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It's so complex. It was originally scripted in

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Ukrainian. Then it was translated to Russian

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for a Lithuanian actress to perform her lines.

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And then the whole thing was later dubbed back

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into Ukrainian for release. It just highlights

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the shifting linguistic landscape of Ukrainian

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media at that time. And finally, before we move

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on, we have that wonderful, almost surreal anecdote

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that perfectly captures the absurdity of his

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former life. Compared to his present one. We

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have to linger on this for a second. It's just

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too good. The man who would eventually stand

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against the largest land invasion in Europe since

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World War II. Addressing global parliaments.

00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:39.799
Requesting complex anti -aircraft systems. Also

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voiced Paddington Bear. Paddington Bear. He voiced

00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:44.940
the beloved character in the Ukrainian dubs of

00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:48.179
Paddington in 2014 and Paddington 2 in 2017.

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And Red in the Angry Birds movie. This is a surreal

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piece of trivia. It is, but it emphasizes his

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sheer versatility and more importantly, his comfortable,

00:11:57.419 --> 00:12:00.500
familiar presence in Ukrainian households. This

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wasn't some distant, aloof public figure they

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were voting for later. He was literally the voice

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of comfort and humor for millions of families.

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OK, let's move into Section two, the political

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hyperreality. This is the 2019 campaign and the

00:12:14.659 --> 00:12:17.980
transition from showman to politician. It wasn't

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a slow evolution, was it? It was a deliberate.

00:12:20.590 --> 00:12:23.049
almost metatheatrical political launch. Right.

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It was built directly on the success of his most

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popular TV show. This is where we enter the realm

00:12:28.029 --> 00:12:30.429
of what scholars call populist hyperreality.

00:12:30.590 --> 00:12:32.470
So the political party, servant of the people.

00:12:32.529 --> 00:12:34.730
It wasn't some organic grassroots movement. Not

00:12:34.730 --> 00:12:37.110
at all. It was formally registered in March 2018

00:12:37.110 --> 00:12:40.570
by employees of his company, Kvartal 95. And

00:12:40.570 --> 00:12:42.610
it was named directly after his hit TV show,

00:12:42.750 --> 00:12:46.070
which ran from 2015 to 2019. And in that show,

00:12:46.289 --> 00:12:49.889
he played Vasil Petrovich Holoborodko. An ordinary,

00:12:50.110 --> 00:12:52.710
idealistic high school history teacher who gets

00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:55.070
famous after a viral anti -corruption rant and

00:12:55.070 --> 00:12:57.389
is then swept into office and elected president.

00:12:57.649 --> 00:13:00.169
So his actual candidacy was essentially the final

00:13:00.169 --> 00:13:02.490
season to the show. He was running for the presidency

00:13:02.490 --> 00:13:04.970
as the fictional president. He had already been

00:13:04.970 --> 00:13:07.429
playing on TV for four years. Precisely. The

00:13:07.429 --> 00:13:09.210
line between the character and the candidate

00:13:09.210 --> 00:13:12.029
was deliberately blurred. It offered the electorate

00:13:12.029 --> 00:13:14.769
this idealized, uncorrupted version of what a

00:13:14.769 --> 00:13:17.309
leader could be. And his announcement was a media

00:13:17.309 --> 00:13:20.309
maneuver in itself. A brilliant one. He announced

00:13:20.309 --> 00:13:22.889
his real -life candidacy on New Year's Eve 2018

00:13:22.889 --> 00:13:25.830
on the OnePlus One channel, and he pointedly

00:13:25.830 --> 00:13:28.769
overshadowed the traditional, pre -recorded New

00:13:28.769 --> 00:13:31.590
Year's address by the incumbent. President Petro

00:13:31.590 --> 00:13:34.850
Poroshenko, that move alone immediately established

00:13:34.850 --> 00:13:37.929
him as a disruptor. And this strategy just perfectly

00:13:37.929 --> 00:13:40.710
positioned him as the ultimate outsider, regardless

00:13:40.710 --> 00:13:43.509
of the fact that he was in reality a very rich

00:13:43.509 --> 00:13:46.210
media mogul. Well, he was a political frontrunner

00:13:46.210 --> 00:13:48.649
months before he even formally declared. His

00:13:48.649 --> 00:13:51.370
core appeal was pure anti -establishment and

00:13:51.370 --> 00:13:53.889
anti -corruption. His message wasn't focused

00:13:53.889 --> 00:13:56.610
on, you know, traditional left -wing or right

00:13:56.610 --> 00:13:58.070
-wing policies. Right, it was about integrity.

00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:02.320
It was entirely focused on moral integrity, seeking

00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:06.360
to restore trust in politicians, promising to

00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:09.580
bring professional, decent people to power. The

00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:12.240
appeal was so simple. If the fictional history

00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:14.360
teacher could do it, why couldn't the actual

00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:17.139
comedian? playing the history teacher. The campaign

00:14:17.139 --> 00:14:20.259
itself was revolutionary for Ukraine. He avoided

00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:22.600
traditional rallies. He avoided the mainstream

00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.700
media almost entirely. It was pioneering. It

00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:27.559
was, and the sources call it this, essentially

00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:30.659
the first entirely virtual presidential campaign

00:14:30.659 --> 00:14:33.879
in Ukrainian history. It relied heavily on direct

00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:36.460
communication through social media, especially

00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:39.740
Instagram and YouTube clips, completely bypassing

00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:41.539
the established political narrative. And his

00:14:41.539 --> 00:14:43.899
rallies. His rallies were often rebranded as

00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:46.100
stand -up comedy. routines across Ukraine with

00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:49.059
his Kvarkol 95 team. They drew these massive

00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:51.399
enthusiastic crowds who were there for the entertainer,

00:14:51.419 --> 00:14:54.179
not for the stump speech. But this media avoidance

00:14:54.179 --> 00:14:56.379
drew some pretty sharp criticism from established

00:14:56.379 --> 00:14:59.899
journalists. It did. About 20 major Ukrainian

00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:03.279
news outlets publicly demanded that he stop avoiding

00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:06.200
journalists shortly before the election. They

00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.259
were concerned that he wasn't submitting to the

00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:10.320
kind of hard scrutiny a presidential candidate

00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:12.559
really needs. And his response was very telling.

00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:15.519
It was. He insisted he wasn't avoiding journalists,

00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:18.179
but that he refused to attend talk shows that

00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:20.139
he viewed as being dominated by, and this is

00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:22.940
his phrase, people of the old power who were

00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:25.759
just using the platforms for PR. He felt that

00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.159
traditional media was part of the corrupt establishment

00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:30.899
he was running against. You mentioned the scholarly.

00:15:31.659 --> 00:15:34.600
analysis of this approach. Let's define the terms

00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:37.000
for everyone listening. What did scholars mean

00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:40.200
by valence populism in this context? OK, this

00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:42.860
is really key to understanding his success. Valence

00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:45.600
populism doesn't rely on positional issues. It's

00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:48.320
not about, you know, taxing the rich versus deregulation.

00:15:48.460 --> 00:15:51.360
It's about values. Exactly. It focuses on non

00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.440
-positional, universally positive moral concepts

00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:57.340
like anti -corruption, political transparency

00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:00.549
and integrity. Everyone agrees corruption is

00:16:00.549 --> 00:16:03.610
bad. Zelensky's genius was making the entire

00:16:03.610 --> 00:16:06.590
election about this moral contrast, his fresh,

00:16:06.629 --> 00:16:10.029
clean, fictional persona versus the entrenched,

00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:13.370
self -serving, old power establishment. And that

00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:16.330
focus allowed him to build this massive, ideologically

00:16:16.330 --> 00:16:19.110
diverse coalition. From Russian speakers in the

00:16:19.110 --> 00:16:21.629
east to Ukrainian speakers in the west, it was

00:16:21.629 --> 00:16:23.710
a huge tent. And the result was just undeniable.

00:16:23.830 --> 00:16:26.309
A landslide victory that completely broke record.

00:16:26.429 --> 00:16:28.429
It was an absolute mandate. In the second round

00:16:28.429 --> 00:16:30.529
of the election, he defeated the incumbent Petro

00:16:30.529 --> 00:16:34.129
Poroshenko with a commanding 73 .23 % of the

00:16:34.129 --> 00:16:37.129
vote. That remains the biggest landslide in Ukrainian

00:16:37.129 --> 00:16:39.429
presidential history. So he had enormous political

00:16:39.429 --> 00:16:41.830
capital right out of the gate. A huge base to

00:16:41.830 --> 00:16:43.889
work from. The debates leading up to that second

00:16:43.889 --> 00:16:45.769
round were also highly theatrical, weren't they?

00:16:45.830 --> 00:16:47.690
They were held in the massive... Olympiysky National

00:16:47.690 --> 00:16:50.049
Sports Complex. Pure spectacle. It completely

00:16:50.049 --> 00:16:52.429
reflected his entertainment roots. What was the

00:16:52.429 --> 00:16:54.590
most stinging moment he delivered to Poroshenko

00:16:54.590 --> 00:16:57.070
in that debate? The key moment of crystallization,

00:16:57.070 --> 00:16:59.129
I think, came when Zelensky acknowledged that

00:16:59.129 --> 00:17:01.190
he had actually voted for Poroshenko back in

00:17:01.190 --> 00:17:04.430
2014. But then he delivered this memorable stinging

00:17:04.430 --> 00:17:07.690
line. He said, we voted for one Poroshenko, but

00:17:07.690 --> 00:17:10.390
received another. He framed it as a betrayal

00:17:10.390 --> 00:17:13.750
of trust, arguing that the true Poroshenko was

00:17:13.750 --> 00:17:15.829
one who surrounded himself with controversial

00:17:15.829 --> 00:17:19.009
figures. gears and sent greetings to Moscow through

00:17:19.009 --> 00:17:21.869
those politicians, while the one voters chose

00:17:21.869 --> 00:17:24.910
was only for the cameras. So to wrap up the campaign

00:17:24.910 --> 00:17:27.569
phase, what were his main policy commitments

00:17:27.569 --> 00:17:30.410
for those first two years beyond just the general

00:17:30.410 --> 00:17:32.690
promise of integrity? Well, his agenda was primarily

00:17:32.690 --> 00:17:35.589
focused on economic reform aimed at jumpstarting

00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:38.369
investment. He saw corruption and a weak judiciary

00:17:38.369 --> 00:17:40.829
as the main roadblocks. So the core promise was.

00:17:41.309 --> 00:17:43.690
A fundamental restart of the judicial system

00:17:43.690 --> 00:17:46.549
to restore public and international confidence.

00:17:47.589 --> 00:17:50.210
Economically, he also proposed a tax amnesty

00:17:50.210 --> 00:17:52.809
and a simplification of the system, including

00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:56.670
a flat tax rate of 5 % for big business. He argued

00:17:56.670 --> 00:17:58.730
that if the government was genuinely honest,

00:17:59.029 --> 00:18:01.670
citizens and corporations would be incentivized

00:18:01.670 --> 00:18:04.410
to pay taxes honestly. Let's move to Section

00:18:04.410 --> 00:18:08.250
3, the early presidency. His inauguration in

00:18:08.250 --> 00:18:12.019
May 2019 was anything but traditional. He immediately

00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:13.960
signaled that he was going to govern with the

00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.140
same disruptive energy he used in his campaign.

00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.599
Yeah, the sources show an immediate aggressive

00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.599
assertion of power. He was leveraging that massive

00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.200
electoral mandate. In his inaugural speech, he

00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:25.980
didn't waste any time. He immediately dissolved

00:18:25.980 --> 00:18:28.759
parliament and called for snap elections. Arguing

00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:30.599
that the existing body just didn't represent

00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:32.920
the will of the people. Exactly. He said it needed

00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.759
to be replaced by new, uncorrupted figures. And

00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:37.720
he quickly followed through on some other major

00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.599
campaign promises, specifically aimed at... tackling

00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:42.960
the structural power of the old guard. Absolutely.

00:18:43.259 --> 00:18:45.440
One of his first major victories was fulfilling

00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.240
a key promise, successfully stripping lawmakers

00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:52.279
of their legal immunity in September 2019. This

00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:55.500
was a hugely symbolic step. It ended a privilege

00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:58.160
that had long shielded corrupt politicians from

00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.319
prosecution. Making it clear that the rules applied

00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:02.890
to everyone. Right. He also took immediate action

00:19:02.890 --> 00:19:05.450
on a specific foreign policy point by restoring

00:19:05.450 --> 00:19:07.890
the Ukrainian citizenship of the former Georgian

00:19:07.890 --> 00:19:10.730
president, Mikhail Saakashvili, which was a move

00:19:10.730 --> 00:19:12.849
that reversed a decision made by his predecessor.

00:19:13.420 --> 00:19:15.859
And there was also that notable controversy surrounding

00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:19.059
the annual Kiev Independence Day parade. Yes.

00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.079
Zelensky canceled the traditional military parade

00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.940
on Maidan Nezelijnosti, which drew some criticism.

00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:27.599
His argument was that the money estimated at

00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:30.119
over 100 million rivnias was better spent on

00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:33.240
veterans. So he proposed a different non -military

00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:36.119
format to honor heroes. Right. It was a move

00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:38.579
that really showcased his focus on populism and

00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:40.880
fiscal responsibility, even if it came at the

00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:42.700
cost of tradition. When he started building...

00:19:42.700 --> 00:19:45.259
his administration, he drew heavily on his past

00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:48.299
life. This led to the appointment of Kavardal

00:19:48.299 --> 00:19:53.839
95 loyalists and individuals with ties to powerful

00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.880
oligarchs. That attracted immediate scrutiny.

00:19:57.140 --> 00:19:59.359
It did. The appointment of former colleagues

00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:01.960
to key security and political roles was a huge

00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:05.769
talking point. Ivan Bakunov, a longtime associate

00:20:05.769 --> 00:20:09.009
from Kvartal 95, was appointed deputy head of

00:20:09.009 --> 00:20:11.670
the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU. And

00:20:11.670 --> 00:20:13.869
his initial chief of staff had some very high

00:20:13.869 --> 00:20:16.349
profile connections. Yes, his team was initially

00:20:16.349 --> 00:20:19.109
led by Andrei Bodan, who had served as the lawyer

00:20:19.109 --> 00:20:21.450
for the controversial and powerful oligarch Ihor

00:20:21.450 --> 00:20:24.470
Kolomoisky. Bodan later resigned under pressure

00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:27.400
and was replaced by Andrei Yermak. So this mix

00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:29.420
of trusted friends and politically connected

00:20:29.420 --> 00:20:31.799
individuals, it created them early turbulence.

00:20:31.980 --> 00:20:34.720
It did. And let's not forget his sweeping administrative

00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:38.119
reform. He dismissed 20 of Ukraine's 24 oblast

00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:40.359
governors right at the start. He was determined

00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:42.759
to clear out those regional bureaucracies. The

00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:45.759
fight against oligarchs became the central defining

00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:49.640
domestic policy of his pre -war term. But it's

00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:52.119
characterized by this deep dual narrative, isn't

00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.279
it? You have the success of the reform on one

00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:56.519
hand and then the stain of the Pandora Papers

00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:58.680
on the other. That tension is absolutely essential

00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:01.380
to understanding his early governance. On the

00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:04.180
reform side, he achieved a huge win in September

00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:07.680
2021 by signing a landmark law that created a

00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.980
public registry of Ukraine's oligarchs. And this

00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:14.339
law had teeth. It did. It banned registered oligarchs

00:21:14.339 --> 00:21:16.819
from participating in state privatizations. It

00:21:16.819 --> 00:21:18.640
forbade them from funding political parties.

00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:20.900
And it required them to disclose their assets.

00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:23.539
This was a direct substantive attack on that

00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:25.940
deeply entrenched, corrupt system. But just one

00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:29.099
month later, the Pandora Papers land. And they

00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:31.380
put him and his inner circle directly in the

00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:33.660
crosshairs regarding offshore activities. This

00:21:33.660 --> 00:21:35.900
was a massive public relations headache for him.

00:21:36.269 --> 00:21:38.690
The Pandora Papers, released in October 2021,

00:21:39.109 --> 00:21:42.190
exposed that Zelensky, Ivan Bakanov and Serhii

00:21:42.190 --> 00:21:44.769
Shafir operated an extensive network of offshore

00:21:44.769 --> 00:21:46.609
companies. Registered in places like the British

00:21:46.609 --> 00:21:50.029
Virgin Islands, Cyprus, Belize. Right. And critically,

00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:52.690
these firms were shown to own expensive London

00:21:52.690 --> 00:21:55.289
property. The source material reveals he had

00:21:55.289 --> 00:21:57.710
transferred his shares in a key offshore entity

00:21:57.710 --> 00:22:01.509
to Serhii Shafir just before his election. So

00:22:01.509 --> 00:22:03.730
for a man elected entirely on an anti -corruption

00:22:03.730 --> 00:22:06.349
platform, how did he manage to defend this? I

00:22:06.349 --> 00:22:08.670
mean, was the campaign pure performance, as his

00:22:08.670 --> 00:22:10.509
critics suggested? This is where you have to

00:22:10.509 --> 00:22:13.470
look closer at the context. Zelensky's defense

00:22:13.470 --> 00:22:15.930
was very specific. He claimed these offshore

00:22:15.930 --> 00:22:18.529
firms were not set up for tax evasion. But for

00:22:18.529 --> 00:22:20.650
protection. But as a defensive measure, yes.

00:22:20.849 --> 00:22:23.470
He argued they were established under the previous,

00:22:23.630 --> 00:22:25.630
notoriously corrupt Yanukovych administration

00:22:25.630 --> 00:22:29.269
to protect Kvartal 95 Studios assets from political

00:22:29.269 --> 00:22:31.910
pressure and potential expropriation, a practice

00:22:31.910 --> 00:22:34.970
that, while legally murky, was sadly pretty common

00:22:34.970 --> 00:22:36.789
in the media industry in Ukraine at the time.

00:22:36.869 --> 00:22:38.569
So the argument was essentially that it was a

00:22:38.569 --> 00:22:41.170
necessary evil to protect creative freedom in

00:22:41.170 --> 00:22:44.089
a corrupt state. And did Ukraine's anti -corruption

00:22:44.089 --> 00:22:46.799
bodies actually validate? That defense? They

00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:49.579
did, which gave him a critical political lifeline.

00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.019
The National Agency on Corruption Prevention,

00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:55.799
or NAACP, investigated the allegations and they

00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:57.819
concluded that they found no sign of conflict

00:22:57.819 --> 00:23:00.220
of interest, illicit enrichment or unjustified

00:23:00.220 --> 00:23:02.980
assets. And they confirmed no payments were received.

00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:05.099
Right. They confirmed that neither Zelensky nor

00:23:05.099 --> 00:23:07.400
his wife had received payments from those offshore

00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:11.339
firms in 2019 or 2020. So while the optics were

00:23:11.339 --> 00:23:14.079
terrible, the anti -corruption candidate linked

00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.849
to offshore wealth. The legal justification held

00:23:16.849 --> 00:23:18.890
up and that allowed him to push forward with

00:23:18.890 --> 00:23:21.250
his oligarch law reforms. OK, let's shift to

00:23:21.250 --> 00:23:24.150
the central foreign policy focus. The promise

00:23:24.150 --> 00:23:26.549
to end the war in Donbass, which was really the

00:23:26.549 --> 00:23:28.569
cornerstone of his campaign. He took immediate

00:23:28.569 --> 00:23:31.980
proactive steps. He held his first phone conversation

00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:35.819
with Vladimir Putin in July 2019, urging EU mediated

00:23:35.819 --> 00:23:39.579
talks. Then that autumn in October 2019, he attempted

00:23:39.579 --> 00:23:42.299
to secure a preliminary peace deal. It's often

00:23:42.299 --> 00:23:44.559
referred to as the Steinmeier formula. And that

00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:46.859
involved giving elections to the Donbas regions

00:23:46.859 --> 00:23:49.559
in exchange for the withdrawal of Russian backed

00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:53.099
unmarked troops. But that preliminary deal sparked

00:23:53.099 --> 00:23:56.420
a massive domestic backlash and protests, didn't

00:23:56.420 --> 00:23:59.980
it? It did. Very significant backlash. Critics

00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:01.940
feared that holding elections under Russian pressure

00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:04.819
would just legitimize puppet regimes. They argued

00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:07.079
that displaced pro -Ukrainian residents wouldn't

00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:09.380
be able to return to vote, leading to an unfair

00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:12.119
outcome. There were huge protests under the banner

00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:15.740
of no capitulation. Zelensky had to repeatedly

00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:18.500
defend the negotiation process, stressing that

00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:20.759
elections wouldn't happen without a full withdrawal

00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:23.759
of Russian forces first. But the deal ultimately

00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.539
failed to de -escalate the violence in any significant

00:24:26.539 --> 00:24:29.700
way. He persisted, though. He met Putin face

00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:31.960
to face later that year. Right. In December 2019,

00:24:32.259 --> 00:24:34.519
under the Normandy format mediated by France

00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:36.559
and Germany. And that pressure did yield some

00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:39.160
temporary results. They announced a formal ceasefire

00:24:39.160 --> 00:24:42.359
in July 2020. The sources point out this was

00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:44.380
the 20th attempt since the conflict began in

00:24:44.380 --> 00:24:46.720
2014. But this one was different, at least for

00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.380
a while. It was. Despite all the previous failures,

00:24:49.579 --> 00:24:52.299
this particular ceasefire saw a substantial reduction

00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:55.440
in violence. Violations decreased by over 50

00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.819
% that year, which demonstrated a brief, fragile

00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:01.839
flicker of hope for peace. And finally, before

00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:03.960
the curtain rose on the full invasion, there

00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:06.059
was that strange controversy surrounding his

00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:09.619
trip to Oman in January 2020. This incident raised

00:25:09.619 --> 00:25:12.079
some serious questions about transparency. It

00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:14.740
kind of reinforced the skepticism of the old

00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:16.740
power establishment he was trying to replace.

00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:19.640
The trip was unannounced and it only became public

00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:22.880
knowledge after the tragic UIA Flight 752 plane

00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.980
crash in nearby Iran forced him to cut his visit

00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:29.289
short. And the media storm led to all these rampant

00:25:29.289 --> 00:25:31.569
rumors of unannounced meetings. Right. Potentially

00:25:31.569 --> 00:25:33.490
with influential Russian figures like Viktor

00:25:33.490 --> 00:25:36.470
Medvedchuk or Vladislav Surkov, though his chief

00:25:36.470 --> 00:25:38.390
of staff at the time vehemently dismissed these

00:25:38.390 --> 00:25:40.910
as baseless conspiracy theories. But the controversy

00:25:40.910 --> 00:25:42.869
wasn't just about the rumors. It was about the

00:25:42.869 --> 00:25:45.730
official handling of the trip itself. Precisely.

00:25:45.910 --> 00:25:48.299
When he was questioned in Parliament. The foreign

00:25:48.299 --> 00:25:50.599
minister was unable to provide concrete details

00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:53.539
about the visit's official agenda or its preparations.

00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:57.180
So his critics hammered him for a lack of transparency,

00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:00.880
the very thing he campaigned against. It was

00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:03.160
an early controversy that served as a reminder

00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:05.539
that governing required a lot more caution and

00:26:05.539 --> 00:26:08.480
accountability than campaigning did. Now we enter

00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:10.079
the era that defines Zelensky internationally

00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:12.920
and irrevocably changed the direction of Ukraine.

00:26:13.460 --> 00:26:15.480
Let's look at the prelude to the full -scale

00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:17.819
invasion. marked by rising tensions throughout

00:26:17.819 --> 00:26:21.480
2021. As Russia began its serious military buildup,

00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:24.279
Zelensky definitely recognized the threat. He

00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:26.440
was urging NATO to speed up Ukraine's membership

00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:29.559
request as early as April 2021. But as the end

00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:31.859
of the year approached, his public strategy seemed

00:26:31.859 --> 00:26:34.099
to sharply diverge from that of his Western partners,

00:26:34.299 --> 00:26:36.779
especially the United States. That's a crucial

00:26:36.779 --> 00:26:39.680
detail. He seemed to be actively minimizing the

00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:41.920
threat publicly, even as Western intelligence

00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:44.500
was screaming about an imminent attack. While

00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:46.500
the US and the UK were warning about the highest

00:26:46.500 --> 00:26:49.019
readiness for invasion, Zelensky was deliberately

00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:51.960
focused on calming the Ukrainian populace. He

00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:55.279
repeatedly urged citizens not to panic. And he

00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:58.680
was publicly critical of the West. He specifically

00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:00.660
accused the Biden administration of creating

00:27:00.660 --> 00:27:04.220
mass hysteria that he feared, risked crippling

00:27:04.220 --> 00:27:06.480
the Ukrainian economy through panic and capital

00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:09.000
flight. His assessment was that they did not

00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.279
see a bigger escalation than what had existed

00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:14.200
previously. He was choosing stability over alarm.

00:27:14.339 --> 00:27:18.200
But then, just hours before the invasion on February

00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:23.140
24th, 2022, he shifted gears completely, delivering

00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:26.200
that incredibly emotional address directly to

00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:28.509
the citizens of Russia. It was an astonishing

00:27:28.509 --> 00:27:31.529
final attempt at diplomacy. He delivered it in

00:27:31.529 --> 00:27:33.809
Russian, the language he grew up speaking, and

00:27:33.809 --> 00:27:36.109
he made this direct emotional appeal to the Russian

00:27:36.109 --> 00:27:38.710
people, to journalists, musicians, scientists,

00:27:38.869 --> 00:27:41.269
even TikTokers, urging them to pressure their

00:27:41.269 --> 00:27:43.210
leadership to prevent the war. He specifically

00:27:43.210 --> 00:27:45.849
disputed the Kremlin's claims about neo -Nazis

00:27:45.849 --> 00:27:47.779
in the Ukrainian government. pointing to his

00:27:47.779 --> 00:27:49.940
own background. He did. He knew the speech probably

00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:51.759
wouldn't be shown on Russian television, but

00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:53.720
he ended it with that provocative challenge that

00:27:53.720 --> 00:27:57.000
the answer to do Russians want war rested entirely

00:27:57.000 --> 00:27:59.519
on their own actions. The moment the invasion

00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:02.460
began, the transformation was complete. Zelensky

00:28:02.460 --> 00:28:04.799
declared martial law and general mobilization.

00:28:05.019 --> 00:28:07.599
But the moment that really secured his legacy

00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.740
was his refusal to leave Kyiv. That refusal was

00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:13.680
an act of profound political theater. It was

00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:15.900
instantly legendary and it was strategically

00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:18.420
brilliant. When the U .S. and Turkey offered

00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:21.019
to evacuate him and his family, he delivered

00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:24.259
that definitive line. The fight is here in Kyiv.

00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:27.299
I need ammunition, not a ride. And the risk level

00:28:27.299 --> 00:28:29.690
for him. personally, at that time was just extreme.

00:28:29.950 --> 00:28:32.230
Immediate and extreme. Ukrainian intelligence

00:28:32.230 --> 00:28:34.630
had identified him as Russia's number one target.

00:28:34.849 --> 00:28:37.849
They stated the goal was to destroy Ukraine politically

00:28:37.849 --> 00:28:40.470
by destroying the head of state. And the sources

00:28:40.470 --> 00:28:43.049
confirm he survived more than a dozen assassination

00:28:43.049 --> 00:28:45.609
attempts in those initial weeks alone. Well over

00:28:45.609 --> 00:28:48.150
a dozen, primarily by elite foreign groups like

00:28:48.150 --> 00:28:50.730
the Wagner Group and the Kadyrovites. And what's

00:28:50.730 --> 00:28:52.690
fascinating, and it's noted in the source material,

00:28:52.910 --> 00:28:55.069
is that some of these attempts were reportedly

00:28:55.069 --> 00:28:58.509
thwarted by tips received from Russian FSB employees

00:28:58.509 --> 00:29:01.750
who actually opposed the war. This unwavering

00:29:01.750 --> 00:29:04.950
presence and his communication strategy, it just

00:29:04.950 --> 00:29:07.269
immediately propelled him into global recognition.

00:29:08.289 --> 00:29:10.650
The comparisons to Winston Churchill started

00:29:10.650 --> 00:29:13.410
almost immediately. His performance was masterful.

00:29:13.549 --> 00:29:16.190
He became the global face of national defiance.

00:29:16.349 --> 00:29:18.650
He was rightly named the Time Person of the Year

00:29:18.650 --> 00:29:20.869
and the Financial Times Person of the Year for

00:29:20.869 --> 00:29:24.470
2022. He pioneered a new kind of wartime leadership,

00:29:24.789 --> 00:29:26.950
harnessing social media, especially those raw,

00:29:27.089 --> 00:29:30.029
shaky videos from the streets of Kyiv, to bypass

00:29:30.029 --> 00:29:32.349
traditional media and communicate directly with

00:29:32.349 --> 00:29:35.230
the world. He became the first truly online wartime

00:29:35.230 --> 00:29:38.119
leader in history. He did. And his virtual addresses

00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:40.480
to legislatures around the world became a central

00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:42.819
part of the global effort to rally support and

00:29:42.819 --> 00:29:46.039
secure aid. From the EU to the UK, the US Congress,

00:29:46.220 --> 00:29:49.759
Canada, Germany, Japan. And each address was

00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:51.960
carefully tailored to appeal to the specific

00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:54.460
historical sensitivities and political pressures

00:29:54.460 --> 00:29:57.519
of that nation. He was demanding, but he always

00:29:57.519 --> 00:29:59.700
framed the fight in these universal terms of

00:29:59.700 --> 00:30:02.789
democracy and freedom. He effectively made Ukraine's

00:30:02.789 --> 00:30:05.349
cause the world's cause. Domestically, this stance

00:30:05.349 --> 00:30:07.950
created an unprecedented level of unity across

00:30:07.950 --> 00:30:10.890
Ukraine. That unity was crucial for survival.

00:30:11.230 --> 00:30:14.490
Over 90 % of Ukrainians supported his actions

00:30:14.490 --> 00:30:17.289
in that initial phase. And importantly, this

00:30:17.289 --> 00:30:20.890
included massive support, over 80 % in the traditionally

00:30:20.890 --> 00:30:22.990
Russian -speaking regions in the East and South.

00:30:23.130 --> 00:30:25.369
His defiance just shattered the Kremlin's narrative

00:30:25.369 --> 00:30:27.569
that the population would welcome Russian forces.

00:30:27.869 --> 00:30:31.509
It forged a deep... national consensus that had

00:30:31.509 --> 00:30:34.410
often eluded previous Ukrainian administrations.

00:30:34.589 --> 00:30:37.289
And despite the intense fighting, he also had

00:30:37.289 --> 00:30:40.289
to manage that diplomatic tightrope walk, signaling

00:30:40.289 --> 00:30:43.250
a readiness for talks while refusing any notion

00:30:43.250 --> 00:30:45.269
of capitulation. Well, the Kremlin's demands

00:30:45.269 --> 00:30:47.730
were clear Ukrainian neutrality, recognition

00:30:47.730 --> 00:30:50.990
of Crimea as Russian and recognition of the separatist

00:30:50.990 --> 00:30:53.809
regions. Zelensky stated he was willing to discuss

00:30:53.809 --> 00:30:56.329
neutrality and a new collective security agreement

00:30:56.329 --> 00:30:58.490
as a potential alternative to NATO membership.

00:30:58.990 --> 00:31:01.109
But he stressed it would not be for capitulation.

00:31:01.309 --> 00:31:03.170
But his party was clear that they would never

00:31:03.170 --> 00:31:06.369
cede claims on Crimea, Donetsk or Luhansk. No.

00:31:06.470 --> 00:31:09.069
He had to balance military defiance with a show

00:31:09.069 --> 00:31:11.029
of diplomatic reasonableness for his Western

00:31:11.029 --> 00:31:14.109
backers. We also saw the information war move

00:31:14.109 --> 00:31:17.150
into new high -tech territory with the first

00:31:17.150 --> 00:31:20.430
major deployment of deepfake technology in a

00:31:20.430 --> 00:31:22.670
global conflict. That was a significant moment

00:31:22.670 --> 00:31:25.309
in the history of disinformation. On March 16,

00:31:25.630 --> 00:31:29.740
2022, a deepfake video of Zelensky surfaced online.

00:31:30.019 --> 00:31:32.259
It depicted him calling for Ukrainian forces

00:31:32.259 --> 00:31:34.240
to surrender. It was crude, though. It was quickly

00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.759
identified. Very crude. And it ultimately failed

00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:39.279
to achieve its goal. But it marked a historic

00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:41.740
first. The introduction of deepfake technology

00:31:41.740 --> 00:31:44.799
as a tool for major state sponsored disinformation

00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:48.380
aimed at political destabilization. Finally,

00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:51.079
the immense pressure of martial law led to some

00:31:51.079 --> 00:31:54.180
significant domestic crackdowns and a consolidation

00:31:54.180 --> 00:31:56.740
of power. Under wartime necessity, he supported

00:31:56.740 --> 00:31:59.140
the suspension of 11 Ukrainian political parties

00:31:59.140 --> 00:32:01.619
that had demonstrable ties to Russia, including

00:32:01.619 --> 00:32:03.779
the influential opposition Platform for Life.

00:32:03.940 --> 00:32:06.539
His rationale was that any activities aimed at

00:32:06.539 --> 00:32:08.740
division would receive a harsh response. And

00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:10.759
he also supported the consolidation of all national

00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:13.900
TV news stations into a single 24 -hour state

00:32:13.900 --> 00:32:16.539
-run broadcast. Right, the United News Telethon

00:32:16.539 --> 00:32:19.119
for the duration of martial law. It was justified

00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:21.420
as necessary to maintain unified information

00:32:21.420 --> 00:32:24.359
and morale, though it naturally drew concerns

00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:26.660
regarding media freedom. Okay, let's move into

00:32:26.660 --> 00:32:29.180
the later phases of the conflict. As it moved

00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:32.240
beyond that initial survival phase, the strategy

00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:36.059
shifted to long -term conflict management and

00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:38.839
really defining the parameters of victory. The

00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:42.779
stance on territorial demands has evolved over

00:32:42.779 --> 00:32:45.400
time. Initially, there was the hardline stance

00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:48.660
in May 2022 that Ukraine would fight until every

00:32:48.660 --> 00:32:51.380
inch of territory was regained. However, reality

00:32:51.380 --> 00:32:54.630
had to temper that absolute goal. He later conceded

00:32:54.630 --> 00:32:56.630
that attempting to recapture all the land seas

00:32:56.630 --> 00:32:59.829
since 2014, including Crimea, solely by force

00:32:59.829 --> 00:33:02.509
would just be too costly in human lives. Exactly.

00:33:02.509 --> 00:33:04.410
He said it would cost the lives of hundreds of

00:33:04.410 --> 00:33:06.910
thousands of people. That was a significant acknowledgment

00:33:06.910 --> 00:33:09.309
of the human cost of an absolute victory. And

00:33:09.309 --> 00:33:11.509
then following Russia's formal annexation of

00:33:11.509 --> 00:33:14.609
four occupied regions in late 2022, he announced

00:33:14.609 --> 00:33:16.609
definitively that Ukraine would not engage in

00:33:16.609 --> 00:33:18.690
peace talks while Vladimir Putin remained president.

00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:21.259
His wartime diplomacy was often characterized

00:33:21.259 --> 00:33:25.039
by this sharp, blunt criticism of allies he felt

00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:27.920
weren't doing enough. He really wasn't afraid

00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.660
to call out major Western powers. No, he used

00:33:30.660 --> 00:33:33.119
his platform masterfully to exert diplomatic

00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:35.880
pressure. He was particularly pointed toward

00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:38.160
Germany for its pre -war dependence on Russian

00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:41.480
energy. He also publicly criticized Turkey, a

00:33:41.480 --> 00:33:43.819
major NATO member, for having double standards.

00:33:44.180 --> 00:33:46.079
He noted that while Turkey was trying to act

00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:48.380
as a peace mediator, it was also continuing to

00:33:48.380 --> 00:33:50.460
warmly welcome Russian tourists and facilitate

00:33:50.460 --> 00:33:53.299
trade. Exactly. And he repeatedly tried to engage

00:33:53.299 --> 00:33:56.099
the one major power that has largely remained...

00:33:56.170 --> 00:33:58.470
China. China has been a recurring diplomatic

00:33:58.470 --> 00:34:01.170
frustration for him. He urged Beijing to pressure

00:34:01.170 --> 00:34:03.890
Putin, arguing that without China, Putin's Russia

00:34:03.890 --> 00:34:06.769
is nothing. He also noted publicly that China

00:34:06.769 --> 00:34:08.730
had refused to speak with him directly since

00:34:08.730 --> 00:34:11.230
the invasion began, which really highlights the

00:34:11.230 --> 00:34:13.329
limits of Ukraine's diplomatic reach in the east.

00:34:13.769 --> 00:34:16.449
Let's turn to the highly dynamic and often strained

00:34:16.449 --> 00:34:18.869
relationship with the United States. This moved

00:34:18.869 --> 00:34:22.530
from securing major aid packages in 2022 to a

00:34:22.530 --> 00:34:26.030
dramatic public crisis in 2025. The relationship

00:34:26.030 --> 00:34:28.369
has been a geopolitical roller coaster. I mean,

00:34:28.409 --> 00:34:30.510
the high point was his surprise visit to the

00:34:30.510 --> 00:34:33.829
U .S. Congress in December 2022. That was a show

00:34:33.829 --> 00:34:36.309
of massive bipartisan support that secured the

00:34:36.309 --> 00:34:38.590
delivery of Patriot missile systems. But the

00:34:38.590 --> 00:34:42.030
sources detail the February 2025 Oval Office

00:34:42.030 --> 00:34:45.670
crisis as a major historical turning point, really

00:34:45.670 --> 00:34:48.670
a nadir in relations. It was. The meeting with

00:34:48.670 --> 00:34:51.130
President Trump was focused on a very specific

00:34:51.130 --> 00:34:54.670
high stakes economic proposal. Right. The deal

00:34:54.670 --> 00:34:56.929
that would grant the U .S. rights to extract

00:34:56.929 --> 00:34:59.989
rare minerals from Ukrainian soil. It's a major

00:34:59.989 --> 00:35:02.750
strategic and economic asset. And the context

00:35:02.750 --> 00:35:04.510
here is that the U .S. was leveraging potential

00:35:04.510 --> 00:35:06.929
aid for economic guarantees and assurances on

00:35:06.929 --> 00:35:09.070
resource access. But the meeting itself just

00:35:09.070 --> 00:35:11.550
spiraled quickly. What led to the heated exchange?

00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:14.679
reported eviction. The sources paint a chaotic

00:35:14.679 --> 00:35:17.260
picture. The arguments reportedly focused on

00:35:17.260 --> 00:35:19.519
deep disagreements regarding the pace of anti

00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:22.340
-corruption reforms and, crucially, the speed

00:35:22.340 --> 00:35:24.579
and scope of Ukraine's mobilization efforts,

00:35:24.760 --> 00:35:26.800
which the U .S. was pushing to expand dramatically.

00:35:27.099 --> 00:35:29.500
The tension escalated into a heated exchange

00:35:29.500 --> 00:35:32.500
involving President Trump and Vice President

00:35:32.500 --> 00:35:35.179
J .D. Vance against Zelensky. And the result

00:35:35.179 --> 00:35:38.469
was stark. The planned lunch, further discussions,

00:35:38.869 --> 00:35:41.070
the signing ceremony, all of it was abruptly

00:35:41.070 --> 00:35:44.050
canceled. And Zelensky was reportedly asked to

00:35:44.050 --> 00:35:47.070
leave the White House. And the immediate geopolitical

00:35:47.070 --> 00:35:50.250
fallout was severe. A brief suspension of crucial

00:35:50.250 --> 00:35:52.949
military aid and intelligence. It was a direct

00:35:52.949 --> 00:35:55.309
consequence of that breakdown. The Trump administration

00:35:55.309 --> 00:35:57.829
briefly suspended the provision of both intelligence

00:35:57.829 --> 00:36:00.889
and military aid for about a week. Aid was only

00:36:00.889 --> 00:36:03.449
restored after intense internal negotiation and

00:36:03.449 --> 00:36:06.030
when Zelensky agreed to an unconditional 30 -day

00:36:06.030 --> 00:36:08.690
ceasefire contingent on Russian agreement. Which

00:36:08.690 --> 00:36:11.570
Russia, predictably, rejected. Right, so it never

00:36:11.570 --> 00:36:13.989
materialized, but the political concession was

00:36:13.989 --> 00:36:16.789
made to unfreeze that aid pipeline. Despite that

00:36:16.789 --> 00:36:19.230
crisis, though, the relationship did stabilize

00:36:19.230 --> 00:36:21.590
later that year. It showed the continued need

00:36:21.590 --> 00:36:25.719
for cooperation. By June 2025, following talks

00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:27.780
at a NATO summit, President Trump reportedly

00:36:27.780 --> 00:36:29.780
considered sending more Patriot missile batteries

00:36:29.780 --> 00:36:33.139
to Kyiv. And in October 2025, Zelensky publicly

00:36:33.139 --> 00:36:35.340
welcomed the U .S. decision to impose sanctions

00:36:35.340 --> 00:36:38.239
against Russia's largest oil companies, Rosneft

00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:41.699
and Lukoil. Moving back to domestic issues, the

00:36:41.699 --> 00:36:44.039
pressure of maintaining a defense force led to

00:36:44.039 --> 00:36:46.039
some very difficult decisions regarding military

00:36:46.039 --> 00:36:48.780
commanders and controversial laws on conscription.

00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:50.960
The complexity of wartime leadership involves

00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:53.760
hard choices at the top. Zelenskyy decommissioned

00:36:53.760 --> 00:36:56.320
several high -profile military figures, most

00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:58.440
notably the Commander -in -Chief Valery Zeluzny

00:36:58.440 --> 00:37:00.900
in February 2024. And that was followed by LT

00:37:00.900 --> 00:37:05.119
Gen. Yuri Sotil in June 2024 and LT Gen. Mykola

00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:08.239
Olishchuk in August 2024. Right, the last dismissal

00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:10.519
coming shortly after an F -16 pilot's death.

00:37:10.969 --> 00:37:12.889
These moves were often framed as necessary to

00:37:12.889 --> 00:37:14.829
refresh leadership or address failures, but they

00:37:14.829 --> 00:37:17.030
were politically contentious. The handling of

00:37:17.030 --> 00:37:19.389
desertion and mobilization also led to some harsh

00:37:19.389 --> 00:37:22.809
new laws. In January 2023, he signed a highly

00:37:22.809 --> 00:37:25.449
controversial law punishing desertion with up

00:37:25.449 --> 00:37:29.130
to 12 years in prison. Critics said it was overly

00:37:29.130 --> 00:37:31.949
punitive for soldiers facing extreme psychological

00:37:31.949 --> 00:37:34.449
stress. But that was later modified, wasn't it?

00:37:34.710 --> 00:37:37.630
It was. Recognizing the public concern, the law

00:37:37.630 --> 00:37:40.909
was later modified in late 2024 to allow first

00:37:40.909 --> 00:37:43.409
time deserters to return to duty without facing

00:37:43.409 --> 00:37:45.809
the full penalty. And the age of mobilization

00:37:45.809 --> 00:37:48.190
has been a constant point of friction, especially

00:37:48.190 --> 00:37:50.869
with Western allies pushing for younger conscripts.

00:37:50.909 --> 00:37:53.489
This has been a delicate balancing act. He signed

00:37:53.489 --> 00:37:56.090
a new mobilization law in 2024, which lowered

00:37:56.090 --> 00:37:59.690
the draft age from 27 down to 25. But crucially,

00:37:59.769 --> 00:38:02.769
in December 2024, he resisted immense pressure

00:38:02.769 --> 00:38:05.000
from the Biden administration. to lower the conscription

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:08.019
age further down to 18. Arguing that the younger

00:38:08.019 --> 00:38:10.139
generation needed to be protected for the post

00:38:10.139 --> 00:38:12.760
-war reconstruction effort. Right. And then in

00:38:12.760 --> 00:38:15.539
February 2025, he introduced a kind of workaround,

00:38:15.800 --> 00:38:18.300
special military contracts for volunteers aged

00:38:18.300 --> 00:38:21.099
18 to 24 trying to increase manpower without

00:38:21.099 --> 00:38:23.460
the political and social cost of mandatory drafting

00:38:23.460 --> 00:38:25.760
of the youngest cohort. He also unveiled his

00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:28.039
long -term strategic plan for victory in late

00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:32.650
2024. Yes. In October 2024, he revealed the comprehensive

00:38:32.650 --> 00:38:36.170
five -point victory plan. This plan covered one

00:38:36.170 --> 00:38:38.809
geopolitical objective likely focused on securing

00:38:38.809 --> 00:38:41.809
international guarantees, two military objectives,

00:38:42.150 --> 00:38:44.829
one economic objective for reconstruction, and

00:38:44.829 --> 00:38:46.769
one related to strengthening national defense

00:38:46.769 --> 00:38:49.630
structures. It was an attempt to provide a clear

00:38:49.630 --> 00:38:51.969
path forward for the nation and its allies. Now

00:38:51.969 --> 00:38:54.329
let's revisit the anti -corruption fight, which

00:38:54.329 --> 00:38:57.130
even in the middle of a massive war remains a

00:38:57.130 --> 00:38:59.960
central domestic struggle. This culminated in

00:38:59.960 --> 00:39:03.800
a dramatic U -turn in mid -2025. This episode

00:39:03.800 --> 00:39:06.300
really demonstrates the fundamental tension in

00:39:06.300 --> 00:39:08.840
his wartime governance, the need for centralized

00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:11.340
authority versus the popular demand for democratic

00:39:11.340 --> 00:39:15.099
integrity. In July 2025, Zelensky signed a controversial

00:39:15.099 --> 00:39:17.500
law that essentially stripped two major anti

00:39:17.500 --> 00:39:21.079
-corruption bodies, MBU and SAPO, of their independence.

00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:23.380
That's the National Anti -Corruption Bureau and

00:39:23.380 --> 00:39:25.480
the Specialized Anti -Corruption Prosecutor's

00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:27.659
Office. Correct. The law placed them under the

00:39:27.659 --> 00:39:29.699
government's direct control. Why did this spark

00:39:29.699 --> 00:39:32.219
such an immediate and widespread public outcry?

00:39:32.360 --> 00:39:36.239
Because these two bodies, NAU and SAPO, are viewed

00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:38.679
by the public and by Western allies as the most

00:39:38.679 --> 00:39:40.739
credible checks against entrenched corruption.

00:39:41.670 --> 00:39:43.989
Removing their independence was seen as a massive

00:39:43.989 --> 00:39:46.449
step backward for Ukraine's democratic commitments.

00:39:46.710 --> 00:39:49.849
It drew intense criticism and widespread protests.

00:39:50.190 --> 00:39:53.369
Across multiple cities. And even more significantly,

00:39:53.730 --> 00:39:55.929
EU officials warned that it would jeopardize

00:39:55.929 --> 00:39:58.889
Ukraine's EU accession efforts, which rely so

00:39:58.889 --> 00:40:01.570
heavily on judicial and anti -corruption integrity.

00:40:02.070 --> 00:40:04.210
So he was faced with losing domestic support,

00:40:04.469 --> 00:40:07.130
losing his mandate of integrity, and potentially

00:40:07.130 --> 00:40:10.190
losing billions in international aid in his EU

00:40:10.190 --> 00:40:13.010
timeline. Exactly. The pressure was overwhelming

00:40:13.010 --> 00:40:15.429
and immediate, and he performed a complete reversal.

00:40:15.769 --> 00:40:18.110
He submitted and signed a new law almost immediately

00:40:18.110 --> 00:40:20.389
that restored the full independence and safeguards

00:40:20.389 --> 00:40:23.070
of NABU and APO. And he explicitly justified

00:40:23.070 --> 00:40:25.730
the U -turn by saying the state listens to public

00:40:25.730 --> 00:40:28.070
opinion. Which proves that even during martial

00:40:28.070 --> 00:40:30.469
law, the commitment to democratic reform remains

00:40:30.469 --> 00:40:32.690
non -negotiable for the Ukrainian public and

00:40:32.690 --> 00:40:34.869
for its international backers. Finally, before

00:40:34.869 --> 00:40:37.170
we transition, what about the environmental impact?

00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:40.400
He puts a specific name to the destruction caused

00:40:40.400 --> 00:40:43.639
by the fighting. He has been relentless in drawing

00:40:43.639 --> 00:40:45.780
global attention to the environmental catastrophe.

00:40:46.280 --> 00:40:48.820
He described the extensive damage from the war,

00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:51.880
the ruined farmlands, contaminated rivers, destroyed

00:40:51.880 --> 00:40:55.260
forests, as an environmental bomb of mass destruction.

00:40:55.639 --> 00:40:58.690
And an ecocide. And an ecocide, yes. And it's

00:40:58.690 --> 00:41:00.469
important to note that ecocide is a specific

00:41:00.469 --> 00:41:03.630
crime under Ukrainian law. He even met with international

00:41:03.630 --> 00:41:06.750
activists like Greta Thunberg to raise awareness

00:41:06.750 --> 00:41:09.400
of this issue. Okay, let's move into our final

00:41:09.400 --> 00:41:11.920
section, looking at his broader political positions

00:41:11.920 --> 00:41:14.699
and personal life. His fundamental stance on

00:41:14.699 --> 00:41:17.500
Western integration has always been clear, but

00:41:17.500 --> 00:41:20.119
with a crucial democratic caveat. His commitment

00:41:20.119 --> 00:41:22.300
to Euro -Atlantic integration is foundational.

00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:25.739
He views both EU and NATO membership as constitutional

00:41:25.739 --> 00:41:28.000
goals and instruments for strengthening defense

00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:30.980
and modernization. His stated goal was to formally

00:41:30.980 --> 00:41:33.960
apply for a NATO membership action plan and full

00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:36.960
EU membership in 2024. But he maintains that

00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:38.460
the final... The final decision has to be put

00:41:38.460 --> 00:41:41.159
to a national referendum. Always. It aligns with

00:41:41.159 --> 00:41:44.599
his populist roots. The people must have the

00:41:44.599 --> 00:41:47.139
final say on such existential questions. He also

00:41:47.139 --> 00:41:49.559
took a strong stance against Russian energy infrastructure

00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:52.159
very early on, even before the full invasion.

00:41:52.420 --> 00:41:54.880
He was a vocal and consistent opponent of the

00:41:54.880 --> 00:41:57.780
Nord Stream 2 pipeline. He called it a dangerous

00:41:57.780 --> 00:42:00.300
weapon not only for Ukraine but for the whole

00:42:00.300 --> 00:42:02.900
of Europe. He understood that the pipeline was

00:42:02.900 --> 00:42:05.539
fundamentally a geopolitical tool designed to

00:42:05.539 --> 00:42:08.440
bypass and destabilize Ukraine financially. And

00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:10.679
beyond the immediate region. He also affirmed

00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:12.880
Ukraine's support for Azerbaijan's territorial

00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:16.119
integrity during the Nagorno -Karabakh War. Regarding

00:42:16.119 --> 00:42:18.300
the Middle East, his stance following the 2023

00:42:18.300 --> 00:42:21.300
attack on Israel was complex. It was a delicate

00:42:21.300 --> 00:42:24.639
balance. He unequivocally condemned Hamas's 2023

00:42:24.639 --> 00:42:27.860
attack on Israel, and he drew parallels to Russia's

00:42:27.860 --> 00:42:31.739
invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's long -standing

00:42:31.739 --> 00:42:34.099
support for the two -state solution and the recognition

00:42:34.099 --> 00:42:36.480
of Palestine. Emphasizing that international

00:42:36.480 --> 00:42:39.179
law must be followed and calling for the protection

00:42:39.179 --> 00:42:41.940
of all civilian life. Right. He maintained a

00:42:41.940 --> 00:42:44.380
posture of impartiality in the broader conflict

00:42:44.380 --> 00:42:47.079
while condemning terrorism. Let's discuss the

00:42:47.079 --> 00:42:49.079
sensitive issue of language and culture in Ukraine.

00:42:49.690 --> 00:42:52.250
Russian is his first language, but his commitment

00:42:52.250 --> 00:42:54.769
to Ukrainian culture is evident. The language

00:42:54.769 --> 00:42:57.849
issue is so central to Ukrainian identity politics.

00:42:58.610 --> 00:43:01.190
Russian is his native tongue, but he committed

00:43:01.190 --> 00:43:03.989
to fluency in Ukrainian and English, hiring a

00:43:03.989 --> 00:43:06.889
dedicated Ukrainian language tutor shortly after

00:43:06.889 --> 00:43:09.050
becoming president. And his position has been

00:43:09.050 --> 00:43:12.480
quite nuanced. It has. He opposed targeting the

00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:14.300
Russian language itself or Russian speakers,

00:43:14.440 --> 00:43:17.099
but he agreed that Russian artists who had become

00:43:17.099 --> 00:43:20.019
anti -Ukrainian politicians should remain banned

00:43:20.019 --> 00:43:22.699
from entering Ukraine. He also supported the

00:43:22.699 --> 00:43:24.880
Ukrainian language quotas on radio and television,

00:43:25.199 --> 00:43:28.000
seeing them as essential for cultural protection.

00:43:28.260 --> 00:43:31.719
On social issues, specifically LGBTQ plus rights,

00:43:31.880 --> 00:43:34.320
he made a notable request amid the constitutional

00:43:34.320 --> 00:43:37.159
constraints of martial law. This came about after

00:43:37.159 --> 00:43:39.179
a public petition demanding equal rights for

00:43:39.179 --> 00:43:41.199
same sex couples gathered sufficient signatures.

00:43:41.739 --> 00:43:43.820
Zelensky affirmed the democratic principles of

00:43:43.820 --> 00:43:46.360
equal rights, framing the issue broadly by stating

00:43:46.360 --> 00:43:48.820
that family consists of persons who live together,

00:43:48.980 --> 00:43:51.400
are connected by common life, have mutual rights

00:43:51.400 --> 00:43:54.239
and obligations. And he requested that the prime

00:43:54.239 --> 00:43:56.699
minister review the possibility of legalizing

00:43:56.699 --> 00:43:59.420
civil partnerships for same sex couples. He did.

00:43:59.659 --> 00:44:02.400
But he noted that the ultimate goal of formal

00:44:02.400 --> 00:44:05.460
same sex marriage requires a constitutional amendment.

00:44:05.639 --> 00:44:08.059
which is strictly prohibited while the country

00:44:08.059 --> 00:44:11.320
remains under martial law. A major cultural and

00:44:11.320 --> 00:44:13.820
political maneuver involved targeting the influence

00:44:13.820 --> 00:44:16.300
of the Russian Orthodox Church within Ukraine.

00:44:16.909 --> 00:44:19.949
This was a huge strategic move to sever Moscow's

00:44:19.949 --> 00:44:23.429
soft power influence. In late 2022, he announced

00:44:23.429 --> 00:44:26.030
a bill aimed at banning religious organizations

00:44:26.030 --> 00:44:28.670
affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian

00:44:28.670 --> 00:44:31.670
Federation, specifically targeting the Ukrainian

00:44:31.670 --> 00:44:34.550
Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate, which had

00:44:34.550 --> 00:44:36.730
long served as a conduit for Russian influence.

00:44:37.010 --> 00:44:39.429
And that law was passed and signed in August

00:44:39.429 --> 00:44:43.130
2024. It was. It gives individual parishes a

00:44:43.130 --> 00:44:45.550
nine -month window to formally cut ties with

00:44:45.550 --> 00:44:48.760
the U .S. leading to subsequent inspections and

00:44:48.760 --> 00:44:50.840
the potential for court -ordered bans for non

00:44:50.840 --> 00:44:52.900
-compliance. A quick snapshot of his personal

00:44:52.900 --> 00:44:55.960
life. His wife, Elena Kiyoshko, was integral

00:44:55.960 --> 00:44:59.199
to his early career. They married in 2003, and

00:44:59.199 --> 00:45:01.780
Elena Kiyoshko was a scriptwriter for Kravartal

00:45:01.780 --> 00:45:04.420
95, so she was a partner in his creative empire

00:45:04.420 --> 00:45:06.619
right from the start. They have two children,

00:45:06.800 --> 00:45:09.800
a daughter, Alexandra, and a son, Kirlo. And

00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:12.429
the family remains in Kiev. They do. A fascinating

00:45:12.429 --> 00:45:15.090
detail is that their daughter, Alexandra, not

00:45:15.090 --> 00:45:18.130
only appeared in his 2014 movie Eight New Dates,

00:45:18.170 --> 00:45:20.550
but she also won prize money on the children's

00:45:20.550 --> 00:45:22.530
version of his show Make the Comedian Laugh back

00:45:22.530 --> 00:45:26.510
in 2016. His career, both before and after 2022,

00:45:26.929 --> 00:45:29.099
has been marked by major recognition. Before

00:45:29.099 --> 00:45:32.039
politics, he secured over 30 of Ukraine's Teletrium

00:45:32.039 --> 00:45:34.739
awards. But his wartime recognition has been

00:45:34.739 --> 00:45:37.340
on an unprecedented international scale. In addition

00:45:37.340 --> 00:45:39.739
to being named Time and Financial Times Person

00:45:39.739 --> 00:45:42.820
of the Year for 2022. He has received high civilian

00:45:42.820 --> 00:45:45.239
honors globally. The French Legion of Honor,

00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:47.460
Poland's Order of the White Eagle, the John F.

00:45:47.519 --> 00:45:49.980
Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, and the Ronald

00:45:49.980 --> 00:45:52.780
Reagan Freedom Award. And the most unique, truly

00:45:52.780 --> 00:45:55.119
permanent honor. That would have to be the extinct

00:45:55.119 --> 00:45:59.179
Feather Star, a Sisychronite Zylinski. A species

00:45:59.179 --> 00:46:01.659
of extinct marine life was named after him in

00:46:01.659 --> 00:46:05.400
2022 by Polish paleontologists, explicitly citing

00:46:05.400 --> 00:46:08.420
his courage and bravery in defending free Ukraine.

00:46:08.719 --> 00:46:10.679
It's a very unusual way to enter the historical

00:46:10.679 --> 00:46:14.000
record. And on a final political note, he stated

00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:16.699
clearly in September 2025 that he would not seek

00:46:16.699 --> 00:46:19.199
a second term once the war concludes. He did.

00:46:19.639 --> 00:46:20.980
All right, let's try to pull this all together.

00:46:21.059 --> 00:46:36.019
This deep dive. Yeah. You, the learner, now understand

00:46:36.019 --> 00:46:38.880
the core paradox. The massive mandate he won

00:46:38.880 --> 00:46:41.119
through anti -establishment rhetoric, the internal

00:46:41.119 --> 00:46:43.820
struggles and reforms of his early term, and

00:46:43.820 --> 00:46:45.860
that ultimate transformation into an internationally

00:46:45.860 --> 00:46:48.880
recognized wartime leader who redefined the role

00:46:48.880 --> 00:46:51.199
of a modern president through direct, immediate

00:46:51.199 --> 00:46:53.380
communication and sheer, unwavering presence

00:46:53.380 --> 00:46:56.159
in Kiev. His greatest skill remains his ability

00:46:56.159 --> 00:46:58.760
to communicate. But the analysis shows that the

00:46:58.760 --> 00:47:01.480
political terrain is getting harder, not easier.

00:47:02.170 --> 00:47:04.969
He has to balance the necessity of war with the

00:47:04.969 --> 00:47:07.710
demand for democratic integrity, as we saw with

00:47:07.710 --> 00:47:10.269
that rapid U -turn on the anti -corruption bodies

00:47:10.269 --> 00:47:13.369
in 2025. And perhaps most critically, he has

00:47:13.369 --> 00:47:15.550
to navigate the changing winds of international

00:47:15.550 --> 00:47:18.130
support. Which brings us back to that point of

00:47:18.130 --> 00:47:19.949
friction we discussed. His ability to manage

00:47:19.949 --> 00:47:22.829
his own image is unquestioned. But his ability

00:47:22.829 --> 00:47:25.849
to manage the political egos of his allies may

00:47:25.849 --> 00:47:28.539
be the true test of his statesmanship. A lot

00:47:28.539 --> 00:47:30.519
of process and a fascinating journey from the

00:47:30.519 --> 00:47:33.659
comedy stage to the world stage. That's it for

00:47:33.659 --> 00:47:35.960
this deep dive. We hope you feel thoroughly informed

00:47:35.960 --> 00:47:38.280
and ready to analyze the complex legacy of President

00:47:38.280 --> 00:47:41.699
Zelensky. Welcome to The Debate. When Volodymyr

00:47:41.699 --> 00:47:45.500
Zelensky swept into power back in 2019, his mandate

00:47:45.500 --> 00:47:49.880
was about as clear as it gets. destroy entrenched

00:47:49.880 --> 00:47:53.099
corruption and eradicate the stifling influence

00:47:53.099 --> 00:47:56.340
of Ukrainian oligarchs. This was really the defining

00:47:56.340 --> 00:47:58.860
promise of his entire political career. And that

00:47:58.860 --> 00:48:01.300
promise set, I mean, the highest possible bar

00:48:01.300 --> 00:48:04.059
for institutional change. He came in as the ultimate

00:48:04.059 --> 00:48:06.440
political outsider, yet the record of his tenure

00:48:06.440 --> 00:48:09.300
is, well, it's riddled with political appointments

00:48:09.300 --> 00:48:11.860
and maneuvers that critics argue centralized

00:48:11.860 --> 00:48:14.889
power in the executive branch. potentially undermining

00:48:14.889 --> 00:48:17.389
the very institutions designed to ensure independent

00:48:17.389 --> 00:48:19.889
oversight. So the core question we really have

00:48:19.889 --> 00:48:21.829
to address here, based on the source material,

00:48:22.010 --> 00:48:25.369
is this. Did President Zelensky's domestic reforms

00:48:25.369 --> 00:48:28.510
actually achieve fundamental structural victories

00:48:28.510 --> 00:48:32.050
against oligarchic power and corruption? Or did

00:48:32.050 --> 00:48:34.650
these efforts primarily result in a, let's say,

00:48:34.670 --> 00:48:37.190
dangerous centralization of executive authority,

00:48:37.489 --> 00:48:40.869
often at the expense of those independent anti

00:48:40.869 --> 00:48:43.500
-corruption agencies? I'm going to argue that

00:48:43.500 --> 00:48:46.380
while, yes, certain symbolic reforms were achieved,

00:48:46.639 --> 00:48:49.239
the administration repeatedly demonstrated a

00:48:49.239 --> 00:48:51.579
preference for executive control and personal

00:48:51.579 --> 00:48:54.019
loyalty over real institutional independence.

00:48:54.420 --> 00:48:57.280
And that led to outcomes that, you know, concentrated

00:48:57.280 --> 00:48:59.820
presidential authority. And I'll contend that

00:48:59.820 --> 00:49:02.559
the administration delivered genuine, structural

00:49:02.559 --> 00:49:05.579
legislative victories that fundamentally alter

00:49:05.579 --> 00:49:08.059
the political landscape. They fulfilled core

00:49:08.059 --> 00:49:11.119
campaign mandates, even with the immense challenges

00:49:11.119 --> 00:49:14.980
inherent in dismantling such a deeply entrenched

00:49:14.980 --> 00:49:18.719
system. So let's let's begin with the case for

00:49:18.719 --> 00:49:22.099
substantive legislative victory. OK, so Zelensky's

00:49:22.099 --> 00:49:24.599
new parliamentary majority acted almost immediately

00:49:24.599 --> 00:49:27.239
to implement structural change, which signaled

00:49:27.239 --> 00:49:30.079
a clear break from the past just months into

00:49:30.079 --> 00:49:33.900
his tenure. In September 2019, Parliament passed

00:49:33.900 --> 00:49:36.460
a landmark bill stripping lawmakers of their

00:49:36.460 --> 00:49:39.260
legal immunity. Now, this was not a minor point.

00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:42.320
It dismantled a foundational political shield

00:49:42.320 --> 00:49:44.820
that it protected the old elite from prosecution,

00:49:45.059 --> 00:49:48.179
from accountability for decades. It really opened

00:49:48.179 --> 00:49:50.780
the door for genuine legal scrutiny against powerful

00:49:50.780 --> 00:49:54.360
figures. I see why you think that. I do. But

00:49:54.360 --> 00:49:56.690
let me offer a different perspective. Stripping

00:49:56.690 --> 00:49:58.769
immunity, while yes, politically significant,

00:49:59.030 --> 00:50:01.769
was probably the lowest cost victory available.

00:50:02.030 --> 00:50:05.050
It signaled intent without fundamentally disrupting

00:50:05.050 --> 00:50:07.269
the flow of capital or the oligarch's actual

00:50:07.269 --> 00:50:09.929
economic structures. But the oligarch law was

00:50:09.929 --> 00:50:12.869
precisely that disruption. By September 2021,

00:50:13.349 --> 00:50:15.909
Zelensky successfully pushed through the oligarch

00:50:15.909 --> 00:50:19.150
law. This legislation was a direct assault on

00:50:19.150 --> 00:50:21.630
that fusion of wealth and power. It mandated

00:50:21.630 --> 00:50:24.059
a public registry of oligarchs. It barred them

00:50:24.059 --> 00:50:26.079
from participating in privatizations of state

00:50:26.079 --> 00:50:28.480
-owned companies. And crucially, it prohibited

00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:30.280
them from financially contributing to political

00:50:30.280 --> 00:50:32.719
campaigns or parties. I mean, this targeted the

00:50:32.719 --> 00:50:34.960
very means by which private wealth had captured

00:50:34.960 --> 00:50:37.420
the state. This is the kind of structural reform

00:50:37.420 --> 00:50:40.480
critics had always deemed impossible in Ukraine.

00:50:40.780 --> 00:50:42.840
That's a compelling point about the law's intent.

00:50:43.300 --> 00:50:45.920
But I would frame the overall political approach

00:50:45.920 --> 00:50:48.599
quite differently. The administration's actions

00:50:48.599 --> 00:50:51.940
often seem to prioritize speed and maybe political

00:50:51.940 --> 00:50:55.019
spectacle. over genuine institutional rigor.

00:50:55.360 --> 00:50:57.619
I mean, from the outset, the campaign relied

00:50:57.619 --> 00:51:00.559
heavily on what scholars called valence populism,

00:51:00.619 --> 00:51:03.579
this focus on non -positional, universally agreeable

00:51:03.579 --> 00:51:06.559
topics like anti -corruption, framing the fight

00:51:06.559 --> 00:51:10.320
as the people versus the elite. And he followed

00:51:10.320 --> 00:51:13.019
through by passing laws targeting those very

00:51:13.019 --> 00:51:15.980
elites. Well, the problem is that this populist

00:51:15.980 --> 00:51:18.380
framing set up these unrealistic expectations,

00:51:18.780 --> 00:51:21.880
while at the same time masking an immediate contradiction.

00:51:22.889 --> 00:51:25.010
the stacking of his administration with former

00:51:25.010 --> 00:51:27.289
personal colleagues from his company, Cartel

00:51:27.289 --> 00:51:31.010
95. You just can't claim to execute a clean break

00:51:31.010 --> 00:51:33.550
from the elite while appointing a team built

00:51:33.550 --> 00:51:36.409
on personal loyalty rather than, say, nonpartisan

00:51:36.409 --> 00:51:39.670
expertise. Specifically, the appointment of Andriy

00:51:39.670 --> 00:51:42.050
Bogdan, who had served as the lawyer for the

00:51:42.050 --> 00:51:45.690
deeply influential oligarch Igor Kolomoisky and

00:51:45.690 --> 00:51:48.130
who faced lustration questions that immediately

00:51:48.130 --> 00:51:51.880
poisoned the well. Similarly, placing Ivan Bakhanyav,

00:51:52.099 --> 00:51:54.659
another close associate, as the deputy head of

00:51:54.659 --> 00:51:57.179
the SBU. It just demonstrated an uncomfortable

00:51:57.179 --> 00:52:00.119
reliance on a personal network in very sensitive

00:52:00.119 --> 00:52:02.980
security and government roles. This undermines

00:52:02.980 --> 00:52:04.440
those structural achievements you're citing.

00:52:04.639 --> 00:52:06.639
But appointing trusted figures, particularly

00:52:06.639 --> 00:52:09.300
for an outsider, entering such a hostile political

00:52:09.300 --> 00:52:11.940
environment can be a necessary act of political

00:52:11.940 --> 00:52:14.949
pragmatism. You have to ensure loyalty and effectiveness.

00:52:15.309 --> 00:52:18.590
It's not inherently systemic corruption. I'm

00:52:18.590 --> 00:52:20.610
sorry, but I just don't buy that it was merely

00:52:20.610 --> 00:52:23.969
pragmatism. Because the subsequent revelations

00:52:23.969 --> 00:52:26.429
fundamentally contradicted the anti -corruption

00:52:26.429 --> 00:52:29.989
narrative. The 2021 Pandora paper showed Zelensky

00:52:29.989 --> 00:52:32.329
and his inner circle operating a very sophisticated

00:52:32.329 --> 00:52:35.190
network of offshore companies, including one

00:52:35.190 --> 00:52:37.829
that held expensive London property. Now, while

00:52:37.829 --> 00:52:39.769
the National Agency on Corruption Prevention,

00:52:40.110 --> 00:52:43.289
the NACP, later found no signs of illicit enrichment

00:52:43.289 --> 00:52:45.809
related to payments after his 2019 election,

00:52:46.110 --> 00:52:48.570
the mere existence of these hidden offshore structures,

00:52:48.769 --> 00:52:50.429
while running on a platform of transparency,

00:52:50.849 --> 00:52:53.230
created a profound crisis of political trust.

00:52:53.469 --> 00:52:56.349
The optic of wealth hidden offshore is just devastating,

00:52:56.510 --> 00:52:58.690
regardless of the legality. To the core debate

00:52:58.690 --> 00:53:02.570
about the integrity and the true independence

00:53:02.570 --> 00:53:05.090
of the anti -corruption infrastructure itself.

00:53:05.630 --> 00:53:08.769
Precisely. We saw the dangers of that centralization

00:53:08.769 --> 00:53:13.150
impulse peak in 2025. In July of that year, Zelensky

00:53:13.150 --> 00:53:15.889
signed a controversial law that explicitly stripped

00:53:15.889 --> 00:53:18.070
the independence of the National Anti -Corruption

00:53:18.070 --> 00:53:21.429
Bureau, or NABU, and the Specialized Anti -Corruption

00:53:21.429 --> 00:53:24.510
Prosecutor's Office, SAPO. Right. And for the

00:53:24.510 --> 00:53:27.090
audience, it's important to understand that NABU

00:53:27.090 --> 00:53:30.050
and SAPO were created specifically to be independent

00:53:30.050 --> 00:53:33.329
of the executive and parliament, often with Western

00:53:33.329 --> 00:53:35.710
oversight. Precisely because the traditional

00:53:35.710 --> 00:53:38.869
prosecutor general's office was so historically

00:53:38.869 --> 00:53:42.230
politicized. Exactly. These were the two critical

00:53:42.230 --> 00:53:44.750
institutional bodies designed to investigate

00:53:44.750 --> 00:53:47.329
and prosecute high -level corruption without

00:53:47.329 --> 00:53:51.389
any political interference. The 2025 law essentially

00:53:51.389 --> 00:53:54.170
transferred oversight and prosecutorial control

00:53:54.170 --> 00:53:57.590
to the government's prosecutor general, Ruslan

00:53:57.590 --> 00:54:00.519
Kravchenko. who is widely viewed as a presidential

00:54:00.519 --> 00:54:03.760
loyalist. This was an overt attempt to manage

00:54:03.760 --> 00:54:06.139
and control the very agencies that should have

00:54:06.139 --> 00:54:09.280
been autonomous. It represents a dangerous centralization

00:54:09.280 --> 00:54:11.860
of prosecutorial authority right under the executive

00:54:11.860 --> 00:54:15.780
branch. And it generated intense public outcry.

00:54:15.820 --> 00:54:18.519
However, the subsequent reversal demonstrates

00:54:18.519 --> 00:54:21.739
that the system, post -Zelensky's reforms, retained

00:54:21.739 --> 00:54:24.900
sufficient Democratic muscle to push back successfully.

00:54:25.659 --> 00:54:27.780
The new bill restoring NABU and SAPO independence

00:54:27.780 --> 00:54:30.880
was signed quite swiftly after widespread protests

00:54:30.880 --> 00:54:33.739
erupted across multiple cities. The administration's

00:54:33.739 --> 00:54:36.000
quick response, you know, noting the necessity

00:54:36.000 --> 00:54:38.699
of listening to public opinion, suggests that

00:54:38.699 --> 00:54:40.559
while the initial impulse might have been flawed,

00:54:40.820 --> 00:54:42.960
the mechanism for accountability was ultimately

00:54:42.960 --> 00:54:46.239
effective. A forced reversal, though, enacted

00:54:46.239 --> 00:54:50.840
only after substantial multi -city protest, proves

00:54:50.840 --> 00:54:53.420
the initial and I would argue inherent impulse

00:54:53.420 --> 00:54:56.420
of the administration. was to undermine independent

00:54:56.420 --> 00:54:59.139
oversight the moment it became inconvenient.

00:54:59.699 --> 00:55:02.980
We can't just gloss over the fact that the executives

00:55:02.980 --> 00:55:05.619
sought to gain control over high -profile corruption

00:55:05.619 --> 00:55:09.059
investigations. That attempt alone really undermines

00:55:09.059 --> 00:55:11.900
the narrative of building truly independent institutions.

00:55:12.380 --> 00:55:15.659
It suggests reforms are tolerated only until

00:55:15.659 --> 00:55:18.519
they constrain presidential power. But let's

00:55:18.519 --> 00:55:21.159
broaden the focus a bit. If the centralization

00:55:21.159 --> 00:55:24.460
impulse was really so dominant, then why did

00:55:24.460 --> 00:55:26.760
the administration simultaneously push through

00:55:26.760 --> 00:55:29.880
other fundamental institutional changes, like

00:55:29.880 --> 00:55:32.639
fixing Ukraine's long -broken referendum law,

00:55:32.780 --> 00:55:36.139
which was passed in January 2021? I mean, that

00:55:36.139 --> 00:55:39.039
speaks to democratic strengthening, not centralization.

00:55:39.769 --> 00:55:42.469
Furthermore, the existence of the oligarch law

00:55:42.469 --> 00:55:46.010
itself created a structural legislative barrier

00:55:46.010 --> 00:55:48.869
against oligarchic participation in privatizations

00:55:48.869 --> 00:55:51.590
and political funding. That is a permanent check

00:55:51.590 --> 00:55:54.530
on power that transcends any single political

00:55:54.530 --> 00:55:57.170
appointment. And that brings us naturally to

00:55:57.170 --> 00:55:59.849
the oligarch law itself, the efficacy of the

00:55:59.849 --> 00:56:03.289
legislation versus the political reality of its

00:56:03.289 --> 00:56:06.190
implementation. You describe it as a bold structural

00:56:06.190 --> 00:56:09.210
move necessary to address the media and economic

00:56:09.210 --> 00:56:12.590
dominance of the old guard. Precisely. We, or

00:56:12.590 --> 00:56:14.650
rather, they needed to fundamentally change the

00:56:14.650 --> 00:56:17.210
relationship between immense private wealth and

00:56:17.210 --> 00:56:21.070
state policy. The law was aimed directly at reducing

00:56:21.070 --> 00:56:24.190
oligarch dominance, particularly over broadcasters,

00:56:24.210 --> 00:56:26.590
which had suffocated fair political competition

00:56:26.590 --> 00:56:29.730
for decades. That's a compelling policy goal,

00:56:29.889 --> 00:56:32.699
sure. But the devil is in the details of the

00:56:32.699 --> 00:56:35.840
mechanism they chose. The law's structure demands

00:56:35.840 --> 00:56:39.800
the creation of a presidential register of oligarchs.

00:56:39.800 --> 00:56:42.260
I mean, this is centralization in its purest

00:56:42.260 --> 00:56:45.340
form. It vests the executive with the power to

00:56:45.340 --> 00:56:48.300
arbitrarily define who is an oligarch and who

00:56:48.300 --> 00:56:50.980
is not. But that concentration of power was the

00:56:50.980 --> 00:56:53.659
necessary precondition for structural success.

00:56:54.489 --> 00:56:57.070
In a political system so riddled with vested

00:56:57.070 --> 00:56:59.090
interests, where the parliament and judiciary

00:56:59.090 --> 00:57:01.829
had historically been compromised by oligarchic

00:57:01.829 --> 00:57:04.909
influence, the presidency was the only office

00:57:04.909 --> 00:57:07.530
with the necessary political capital, especially

00:57:07.530 --> 00:57:10.869
after the 2019 supermajority, to actually enforce

00:57:10.869 --> 00:57:13.889
such a sweeping measure. Without a central body

00:57:13.889 --> 00:57:16.869
dedicated to enforcement, any objective definition

00:57:16.869 --> 00:57:19.510
of an oligarch would have been immediately litigated,

00:57:19.630 --> 00:57:22.210
filibustered, and ultimately overturned by those

00:57:22.210 --> 00:57:30.949
entrenched interests. It may have been politically

00:57:30.949 --> 00:57:33.849
expedient, but it is institutionally dangerous.

00:57:34.289 --> 00:57:37.510
The ability to arbitrarily label a political

00:57:37.510 --> 00:57:40.550
opponent, a critical media owner, or a business

00:57:40.550 --> 00:57:43.510
rival as an oligarch, and thus strip them of

00:57:43.510 --> 00:57:46.489
political rights, means that the executive substitutes

00:57:46.489 --> 00:57:48.849
presidential discretion for the rule of law.

00:57:49.070 --> 00:57:51.989
That is not institution building. That is power

00:57:51.989 --> 00:57:54.940
consolidation. And this fear was amplified by

00:57:54.940 --> 00:57:57.119
those initial appointments we talked about, like

00:57:57.119 --> 00:58:00.039
Kolomoisky's former lawyer, Bogdan, which immediately

00:58:00.039 --> 00:58:02.440
raised questions about whose interests the presidential

00:58:02.440 --> 00:58:04.739
office would truly serve when enforcing this

00:58:04.739 --> 00:58:07.460
powerful new law. So if we accept your premise

00:58:07.460 --> 00:58:09.320
that the administration was primarily concerned

00:58:09.320 --> 00:58:12.199
with centralization, then we have to look critically

00:58:12.199 --> 00:58:15.300
at the tension between transparency and pragmatism.

00:58:15.420 --> 00:58:17.679
And this is where the administration faced its

00:58:17.679 --> 00:58:20.659
biggest crises of political image. And the administration

00:58:20.659 --> 00:58:24.780
failed that test. The trip to Oman in January

00:58:24.780 --> 00:58:28.519
2020 stands as a major lapse in the transparency

00:58:28.519 --> 00:58:32.360
he promised. Zelensky combined a personal holiday

00:58:32.360 --> 00:58:36.059
with undisclosed government business, a level

00:58:36.059 --> 00:58:38.460
of opacity that his anti -establishment campaign

00:58:38.460 --> 00:58:42.079
had explicitly promised to end. The lack of accountability

00:58:42.079 --> 00:58:45.199
was exposed when his own foreign minister, Prostyko,

00:58:45.400 --> 00:58:48.039
couldn't provide a clear official agenda or details

00:58:48.039 --> 00:58:49.900
to Parliament about the purpose or preparation

00:58:49.900 --> 00:58:52.719
for the visit. For a leader who promised to govern

00:58:52.719 --> 00:58:55.719
openly, this secrecy just directly contradicted

00:58:55.719 --> 00:58:58.659
his core mandate and eroded public trust. That

00:58:58.659 --> 00:59:01.420
trip was poorly handled, certainly, at least

00:59:01.420 --> 00:59:03.980
in terms of communications. But let's put the

00:59:03.980 --> 00:59:06.380
transparency concerns, particularly those around

00:59:06.380 --> 00:59:10.440
the Pandora Papers, into a historical and pragmatic

00:59:10.440 --> 00:59:14.159
context. Zelensky's defense regarding the offshore

00:59:14.159 --> 00:59:16.460
companies was that they were established to protect

00:59:16.460 --> 00:59:19.719
his studio, Corvital 95, from political pressure

00:59:19.719 --> 00:59:22.719
and possible raids, under the notoriously corrupt

00:59:22.719 --> 00:59:25.940
Yanukovych administration. But setting up offshore

00:59:25.940 --> 00:59:28.860
holding companies is precisely how the old guard,

00:59:29.019 --> 00:59:31.880
the very people he campaigned against, shielded

00:59:31.880 --> 00:59:33.579
their wealth from accountability and taxation.

00:59:34.199 --> 00:59:37.260
That excuse, that this was common practice in

00:59:37.260 --> 00:59:39.599
the media industry at the time, it just doesn't

00:59:39.599 --> 00:59:42.039
hold up for a leader who promised to be the transformative

00:59:42.039 --> 00:59:45.940
exception. But it reframes the motivation. And

00:59:45.940 --> 00:59:48.900
motivation matters fundamentally in this debate.

00:59:49.769 --> 00:59:53.010
If the offshore structure was defensive, aimed

00:59:53.010 --> 00:59:55.289
at protecting creative and commercial assets

00:59:55.289 --> 00:59:58.369
from state predation under an oppressive regime,

00:59:58.670 --> 01:00:02.269
that is political pragmatism. It is fundamentally

01:00:02.269 --> 01:00:04.769
different from using offshore shell companies

01:00:04.769 --> 01:00:07.809
for illicit personal enrichment while in public

01:00:07.809 --> 01:00:11.989
office. Furthermore, he did take steps towards

01:00:11.989 --> 01:00:14.909
divestment, handing over his shares in the key

01:00:14.909 --> 01:00:18.130
offshore company to Serhii Shefir around the

01:00:18.130 --> 01:00:20.840
time of the election. This shows an effort to

01:00:20.840 --> 01:00:23.420
separate his private business life from his public

01:00:23.420 --> 01:00:25.940
office duties, even if the timing was imperfect

01:00:25.940 --> 01:00:29.099
and the arrangement complex. The separation was

01:00:29.099 --> 01:00:33.519
complex and it was secretive. Transparency, especially

01:00:33.519 --> 01:00:36.119
for a leader who rode into power on a wave of

01:00:36.119 --> 01:00:38.480
popular dissatisfaction with political opacity,

01:00:38.920 --> 01:00:42.079
can't just be waved away by citing the need for

01:00:42.079 --> 01:00:45.199
a pragmatism used by the very corrupt system

01:00:45.199 --> 01:00:48.610
he promised to dismantle. The lack of forthrightness

01:00:48.610 --> 01:00:50.829
regarding past dealings and the controversial

01:00:50.829 --> 01:00:53.469
appointments of figures tied to oligarchic interests,

01:00:53.769 --> 01:00:56.590
it created a cumulative distrust that weakened

01:00:56.590 --> 01:00:58.610
the legitimacy of his legislative victories.

01:00:58.929 --> 01:01:01.550
Ultimately, for me, the Linsky followed through

01:01:01.550 --> 01:01:04.670
on substantive legislative promises, stripping

01:01:04.670 --> 01:01:08.190
immunity, enacting the oligarch law, and reforming

01:01:08.190 --> 01:01:10.650
referendum rules, all of which were aimed at

01:01:10.650 --> 01:01:12.849
fundamentally altering the relationship between

01:01:12.849 --> 01:01:16.219
state, parliament, and wealth. These were institutional

01:01:16.219 --> 01:01:18.840
changes designed to reduce the privileges of

01:01:18.840 --> 01:01:21.300
the old elite and increase democratic participation.

01:01:21.820 --> 01:01:25.320
This demonstrates a sustained commitment to institutional

01:01:25.320 --> 01:01:27.940
reform, even in the face of immense political

01:01:27.940 --> 01:01:30.239
opposition and, you know, the ultimate tragedy

01:01:30.239 --> 01:01:33.480
of war. Yet the record remains profoundly mixed,

01:01:33.579 --> 01:01:35.980
and it demonstrates that structural legal change

01:01:35.980 --> 01:01:39.420
is just insufficient without genuine, unwavering

01:01:39.420 --> 01:01:42.539
accountability. Initial legislative wins were

01:01:42.539 --> 01:01:44.840
repeatedly tempered by issues of transparency,

01:01:45.179 --> 01:01:48.539
like the Oman trip and the Pandora Papers revelations.

01:01:48.659 --> 01:01:51.559
And more critically, we saw the executive's controversial

01:01:51.559 --> 01:01:55.539
attempt in 2025 to centralize power over NABU

01:01:55.539 --> 01:01:58.219
and SAPO, a move only reversed due to massive

01:01:58.219 --> 01:02:00.980
public outcry. This proves the underlying tension

01:02:00.980 --> 01:02:03.539
between executive authority and truly independent

01:02:03.539 --> 01:02:05.860
anti -corruption infrastructure remains potent.

01:02:06.510 --> 01:02:08.869
I think we have to appreciate the sheer complexity

01:02:08.869 --> 01:02:12.429
of trying to transform a deeply entrenched, corrupt

01:02:12.429 --> 01:02:15.989
system like Ukraine's. Zelensky initiated sweeping

01:02:15.989 --> 01:02:19.510
legal and political changes aimed at dismantling

01:02:19.510 --> 01:02:22.269
oligarchic power, a feat that was long thought

01:02:22.269 --> 01:02:25.610
impossible. Accountability clearly requires continuous

01:02:25.610 --> 01:02:28.530
scrutiny of the administration's actions versus

01:02:28.530 --> 01:02:31.510
its founding promises, recognizing that the battle

01:02:31.510 --> 01:02:34.429
between centralization and independence is, well,

01:02:34.590 --> 01:02:35.130
it's ongoing.