The invasion of Ukraine is a military battle, first and foremost, but it is also an infowar.
And on that front, Volodymyr is kicking Vladimir’s butt.
Zelenskyy is doing this by leading his people from the streets and posting videos, usually clad in a brown T-shirt, as a global symbol of defiance against Russian aggression.
What’s more, Zelenskyy has been calling in Western reporters, including those for CNN and NBC, and granting interviews from his secret location – despite the obvious risks.
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Visibility vs. isolation
Think about that for a second. Zelenskyy, in his bunker, is more visible than Putin in the Kremlin equivalent of his bunker. The few photos available of Putin paint a picture of isolation, with the Russian autocrat at one end of a 20-foot table and his adviser or visitor at the other.
Putin is too busy cracking down on the Russian press to worry about the Western press. Zelenskyy sits rather close to the reporters.
"It’s not about ‘I want to talk to Putin.’ I think I have to talk to Putin. The world has to talk to Putin because there are no other ways to stop this war."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands alongside other government officials in a video posted to social media Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, vowing to defend the country from a Russian invasion. (Armed Forces of Ukraine)
There is a method to his madness. He desperately needs weapons and humanitarian aid for a country under siege, with Russian troops engaging in indiscriminate bombing and taking control of a major southern port city.
So he’s acutely aware that he needs to drive a daily message and keep the war in the global headlines, even while trying to shield his location.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, second left, and Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia and First Deputy Defense Minister Valery Gerasimov, left, during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 27, 2022. (Associated Press)
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NBC’s Richard Engel, who was surprised to be invited with a small group of reporters to see Zelenskyy, asked him multiple questions and at one point compared him to Winston Churchill.
Putin doesn’t want to meet you, Engel said, so what is your message to him?
"It’s not about ‘I want to talk to Putin,'" Zelenskyy replied. "I think I have to talk to Putin. The world has to talk to Putin because there are no other ways to stop this war."
Now here’s a contrast: The Washington Post reporting on remarks by Russia’s director of foreign intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin.
Cancel culture?
"The masks are off," he said. "The West isn’t simply trying to close off Russia behind a new Iron Curtain. This is about an attempt to ruin our government — to ‘cancel’ it, as they now say in ‘tolerant’ liberal-fascist circles."
Man, that’s rich. Naryshkin and the Kremlin launch a brutal and unprovoked war against a sovereign country, and he’s whining about cancel culture.
"The masks are off. The West isn’t simply trying to close off Russia behind a new Iron Curtain. This is about an attempt to ruin our government — to ‘cancel’ it, as they now say in ‘tolerant’ liberal-fascist circles."
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin is seen at the opening of an exhibition on violations of human rights in Ukraine (2017-2020), on Jan. 18, 2022 in Moscow. (Getty Images)
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Russian soldiers are slaughtering Ukrainian civilians, and this guy is going off about the financial sanctions–the very sanctions that President Biden and NATO leaders repeatedly warned would cripple their economy if there was an invasion.
A Ukrainian soldier passes by houses in the village of Novoluhanske, Luhansk region, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. (Associated Press)
Some Russian oligarchs are having to sell their luxury yachts. Boo hoo.
But what else would you expect from people who keep complaining that Kyiv’s government is run by Nazis, despite the fact the country has a Jewish president?
What’s more, "fascist" circles aren’t usually associated with "liberal" circles. Some pundits are blaming right-wing rhetoric that has suddenly been appropriated by the Putin regime, but no one can be responsible for how totalitarians twist their words.
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Media shutdowns
Meanwhile, Putin has shut down two of the last remaining independent broadcasters in Russia, Dozhd television and Echo of Moscow radio. The chief editor of Dozhd, Tikhon Dzyadko, has fled the country with his family, fearing for his safety.
Among other offenses, these outlets referred to the Ukraine "war," when Putin, with 1984 doublespeak, insists it’s a peacekeeping mission.
And now Putin is pushing a bill in his rubber-stamp parliament that would make "unofficial" reporting – that is, anything beyond Putinesque propaganda – punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
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Vladimir Putin may be able to use state-controlled media to feed these lies to his people, but the rest of the world knows the truth. No wonder so many countries are siding with Zelenskyy and his courageous people.