Newly Popular Zelensky Activates the Political Machine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has achieved a 91 percent favorability rating (Wikimedia Commons)
Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have fortified their capital of Kyiv and stand ready to protect it from Russian ground invasion, the Ukrainian military reported on March 5.
"Such unity of citizens and defense forces has never been seen before. We are ready to repel and defeat the enemy. I am sure that on the outskirts of the capital, the aggressor will feel all the anger of the Ukrainian people," Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky told the press. This pervasive sense of nationalism is palpable among the civilians volunteering to fight.
Standing at the crux of this nascent and growing civil-military unity is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has risen to ubiquity due in large part to his prolific and salient use of social media. Now standing at 4.8 million Twitter followers, Zelensky has proven deft at shoring up international support for Ukraine while displaying strong, patriotic leadership to his own constituents.
Zelensky has used Twitter to accuse Russia of war crimes, apply for membership to the European Union, and call for a more robust international intervention, including the institution of a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
“Nuclear terrorism requires decisive action in response. At the #UN Security Council meeting, we called for closing the sky over [Ukraine] and launching an operation to maintain peace and security. The goal is to save hazardous facilities. The world must not watch, but help!” he tweeted on March 4, in a message that has received nearly 150,000 likes and more than 28,000 retweets.
His constituents have taken notice. As of late February, Zelensky has secured a 91 percent favorability rating among Ukrainian citizens. The Kyiv Independent reports that 70 percent believe Ukraine will emerge from the war victorious.
Yet Zelensky, a former television star who portrayed the president in the comedy program Servant of the People, has not always been able to rely on such overwhelming domestic support. Although defeating incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in 2019 with 73 percent of the vote, he saw his approval rating fall to 32 percent by November 2021. Many in Ukraine saw Poroshenko, who Ukraine has formally accused the former president of treason for allegedly helping pro-Russian separatists sell coal to Kyiv, as representative of a corrupt old guard.
According to the Wilson Center, Zelensky’s approval fell as Ukrainians began to perceive him as akin to “any other businessperson in Ukraine” and reports of his offshore financial holdings surfaced. By late 2021, Ukrainians no longer saw their President as an “alternative.”
The war with Russia has changed these perceptions. The image now indelible in the collective imagination is Zelensky’s refusal of an American offer to leave Kyiv, remarking “I need ammunition, not a ride.” Zelensky’s newfound popularity has afforded him a surplus of political capital.
The Ukrainian government has succeeded in rallying civilians to a military cause, and has reported distributing more than 18,000 weapons to non-officers in the region surrounding Kyiv alone.
He has maintained public support in spite of measures some would consider extreme, beginning with the institution of martial law and a ban on males aged 18-60 leaving the country. More recently, he has authorized the release of combat-experienced prisoners to join the fighting.
“Ukrainians with real combat experience will be released from custody and will be able to compensate for their guilt in the hottest spots,” Zelensky announced on February 28.
Zelensky has also sought to direct his political capital outwards towards the hearts and minds of greater Europe, using his expansive platform to frame the conflict as a struggle for the fate of democracy.
“Don't be silent. Come to the streets. Support Ukraine. Support our freedom. Because this is a victory not only over the Russian military, it is a victory of light over darkness. This is the victory of good over evil,” he said on March 4, addressing the peoples of Europe.
He did not hesitate to employ stark terms. “If Ukraine falls, the whole of Europe will fall. And if we win - and I am confident in our people, I am confident in you - it will be a great victory of democracy, values, victory of freedom,” he concluded the address.
It seems Volodymyr Zelensky has tapped a new wellspring of soft power.
