Thread by @gabegarf

In 2022, Ukrainian President @ZelenskyyUa became the leader the world needs and Putin can’t stand it. But its Zelensky’s rise to power that may be the most interesting 1/

When Putin called to ‘de-Nazify’ Ukraine, Zelensky responded, ‘How can I be a Nazi?”. Fair enough. Zelensky’s family is Jewish and his grandfather’s 3 brothers were killed in the Holocaust 2/

Ukrainians elected the Jewish, Russian-speaking Zelensky despite less than 1% of Ukraine being Jewish (majority are Ukrainian Catholic) 3/

Before entering politics, Zelensky was one of Ukraine’s top comedians. His comedy troop, Kvartal 95, released several blockbuster movies & TV shows 4/

Zelensky even competed in AND WON Ukraine's Dancing with the Stars in 2006 5/

https://twitter.com/abughazalehkat/status/1497768813860896770?s=20&t=4QjjebRcRCpTYzpAUy2CWg

Here’s where it gets interesting… In 2015, Zelensky created a new show in which he starred, Servant of the People, about a high school teacher whose rant against government corruption went viral resulting in his character’s election to president. 6/

In Servant of the People, Zelensky played Vasyl Petrobych Holobordko, a likable, ordinary non-politician who fought for the little guy. He even commuted on a bike and lived with his parents! 7/

In the show, Zelensky rallied against corruption, Ukraine's oligarchy & Russia’s control over Ukraine. He drew obvious parallels to Ukraine’s own political problems and connected with the spirit of his countrymen, even taking a couple of cracks at Putin. 8/

Servant of the People was a hit! It struck a chord with Ukrainians & shared their grievances against Ukraine's top-down, corrupt government. So much so, public opinion polls started ranking Zelensky as a frontrunner for the 2019 presidential election. 9/

For 6 months in 2018, Zelensky gave vague answers and refused to commit to running for president... only leading to more speculation and more popularity 10/

Finally, ahead of the annual New Years Day Presidential Address, Zelensky upstaged billionaire President Petro Poroshenko, and announced his presidential candidacy for his new party, Servant of the People, on Dec 31st, 2018. 11/

Side note: 19 years earlier, Boris Yeltsin stepped down in his own New Years Eve address leaving way for Putin to make his inaugural presidential address on Jan 1, 2000. 12/

@ZelenskyyUa ran a non-traditional, social media fuelled campaign. In many ways, Ukrainians saw him as the same type of politician as he played in his show, an ordinary Ukrainian with integrity. 13/

And on April 21st, 2019 @ZelenskyyUa won a landslide election earning 73% of the vote to Poroshenko’s 25%. 14/

Only months into his presidency, Zelensky’s saw his first international leadership test. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down in Iran. 15/

In 2020, when Trump attempted to blackmail him for dirt on Hunter Biden in exchange for arms, Zelensky was caught in the middle of a scandal that led to Trump's 1st impeachment. Zelensky diplomatically refused. 16/

And that’s the story of @ZelenskyyUa, an ordinary guy with an unconventional background, who rose up to lead his nation against its greatest existential threat and inspired the world doing so. 17/

#IStandWithUkriane #Zelensky #leadership

@ZelenskyyUa is showing his country precisely the leadership it requires when it needs it the most /18

https://twitter.com/ostrov_a/status/1497834691340247042

Case in point 👇 👇👇

19/19

https://twitter.com/soniadeol1/status/1497759902260858882

If you’re interested in the speed of communication during conflict and how twitter is being used during this one, check out this rundown by my friend @TrungTPhan

trungphan.substack.com/p/the-speed-of…