What made Zelenskyy what he’s today

I am reporting here from the heart of Russia, if it has any heart left at all.” That was Zelenskyy filming a segment of his then weekly news parody from the edge of Red Square in Moscow in 2014. Just a few months after Russia had taken over Crimea. Zelenskyy had lived in Moscow for six years where his company, Kvartal 95, had massive productions from movies and sitcoms to variety shows. All in Russian. But Russia’s annexation of Crimea changed all that.
The Showman by Simon Shuster is the Zelenskyy book the world needed for insights into the mind of the Ukrainian leader. From barely known around the world as a comicturned-politician, Zelenskyy is now one of the most recognisable faces, and for many, the leader Ukraine needed when the full-scale war began in 2022.


Shuster argues the beginning of this transformation goes back to Zelenskyy’s formative years in 1980s’ Kryvyi Rih. Zelenskyy belongs to the generation that saw the transition from the Soviet Union to free Ukraine, and this would impact his life choices going forward. Like his choice to be a performer instead of a more traditional profession that his Russian-speaking, Jewish, Soviet family wanted. Shuster’s extensive reporting background on Russia and Ukraine gives him a good insider view into the Zelenskyy presidency and Kyiv’s response to the Russian invasion.

Pieced together through extensive interviews with not just Zelenskyy but also those closest to him, both within his administration and personal circle, the book provides a riveting account of the early days of the full-scale war and the years leading up to it. When Russian guns opened up on Feb 24, 2022, nobody knew if Zelenskyy and his team would stick around. But as thousands of cars made their way out of Kyiv, Zelenskyy’s was moving in the other direction to the centre of the city where the presidential offices stood. When Oleksiy Danilov, then secretary of national security and defence council, pulled up to Zelenskyy’s office, the president asked a one-word rhetorical question in Russian: translated, it’s “Let’s kick some ass?” Per Shuster, this confidence in the face of odds is typical Zelenskyy.

His entry into politics was a huge leap of faith too. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas played a part in that decision. Those days he and his troupe would tour the frontline to entertain Ukrainian soldiers. Those interactions with men who were defending the country – unlike the elite sitting in Kyiv far removed from the war – proved to be pivotal in pushing Zelenskyy to run for office.But in his initial years as president, he wanted to make peace with Russia. He had an innate belief that if he could directly talk to Putin, this madness could end and thousands could be saved. But Putin clearly had other ideas.

The Russian massacre in Ukrainian towns and cities like Bucha following the fullscale war shook Ukrainians and the world, and would eventually stymie initial attempts at a negotiated settlement. Zelenskyy also thought he and Trump would get along given their reality TV background. But the Hunter Biden controversy put paid to that. It’s all this baggage that colours the war today: Putin’s cold calculations and Trump’s history with Zelenskyy – caught in the middle, a wartime leader who desperately wants peace.