Thread by @WarintheFuture

Since the beginning of Russia's invasion of #Ukraine, President Zelensky has harnessed the full range of national resources to defend his country. A thread on the #leadership & speeches of @ZelenskyyUa. 1/25 🧵 mickryan.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-tw…

2/ Whether it is the mobilisation of Ukrainian people for military or civil defense purposes, to conduct cyber operations, engage in the global influence campaign or to simply keep their nation running, Zelensky has been the leader that Ukrainians look to.

3/ Of all the resources that Zelensky has appropriated to halt and throw back this vicious assault on #Ukraine, perhaps one of the most powerful has been his use of the written and spoken word.

4/ He has leveraged language to inspire his people, provide purpose for his soldiers and his government, to share the tragedy experienced by his people and to celebrate their successes as well.

5/ This is a rare skill. Few are able to master the right language for a given moment, while also ensuring the right audiences are engaged, or inspired, by the core messages. To this end, Zelensky is quite rightly compared to Sir Winston #Churchill.

6/ President Kennedy, speaking in 1963, said of Churchill that: "In the dark days and darker nights when Britain stood alone—and most men save Englishmen despaired of England’s life—he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle."

7/ Zelensky has mobilised language and sent it into battle since 24 February 2022. His quote that “I need ammunition, not a ride” is sure to be used in everything from #military doctrine to corporate leadership speeches for decades to come.

8/ His New Year’s message for 2022, likewise provided several memorable passages, including the following: "I'm here. We are here. You are here. Everyone is here. We are all Ukraine." president.gov.ua/en/news/novori…

9/ Zelensky, and what is assumed to be a supporting strategic communications staff, have overseen perhaps the best example of modern strategic communications by any democratic nation.

10/ The aggregated efforts of Ukrainian online activities, and their investment in a robust telecommunications infrastructure, has resulted in stories from the war being available globally and in near real time.

11/ It has allowed the world to see the debased behaviour of Russian soldiers. It enables journalists to access audiences & analysts to share observations. And it permits people who never expected to see such a war in their lifetime to understand the reality of war.

12/ But the centre of it all has been Zelensky. His almost daily speeches, including talks to world institutions, universities and other groups, are available in Ukrainian and English, in video and written forms.

13/ Just before Christmas last year, Ukrainian President Zelensky gave two speeches. One, an address to a joint sitting of the US Congress, was televised live around the world and provided important messages on supporting Ukraine’s war effort.

14/ But Zelensky gave a 2nd speech a few hours before departing for his visit to Washington DC. Visiting his soldiers on the front line during the continuing Battle of #Bakhmut, Zelensky met with the troops, presented awards for valour & was given a signed Ukrainian flag.

15/ At first glance, these were two entirely different audiences. One, the lawmakers of the richest and most powerful nation on earth. The other, a group of weary, grimy soldiers just back from the front line in one of Ukraine’s most vicious ongoing battles.

16/ But in examining these speeches, we see in Zelensky a confident orator who understands his audience, is able to tailor the messages for each, and provide them with purpose for their ongoing support and efforts.

17/ He shifts his tone depending on location, & varies his language to suit the outcome he desires for each speech. This is a skill he has applied and refined throughout the war to inspire his own people while seeking support and assistance from beyond Ukraine’s borders.

18/ General Dwight Eisenhower wrote in his book, Crusade in Europe, that: "Belief in an underlying cause is fully as important to success in war as any local espirit or discipline induced or produced by command or leadership action."

19/ Whether he is speaking at the front lines with his soldiers, or in the legislature of the most powerful democracies, Zelensky wants his own people, his enemies and the rest of world to believe that #Ukraine can and will win this war.

20/ At heart, his speeches and all of his strategic communications activities, are about providing purpose. A purpose that his people, and many from foreign nations, can believe in.

21/ This where Zelensky’s #leadership & talent for strategic influence intersects. He is able to craft a message for his own people, his government, his soldiers as well as people in foreign countries, that describes the importance of supporting the defence of #Ukraine.

22/ Zelensky adroitly uses the written and spoken word to outline why defending democracy is important, and why the price of doing so is much less than not doing so.

23/ President Zelensky has demonstrated physical and moral #courage and set an example for his own people. The moral clarity of good versus evil in this war, and Zelensky’s speeches about it, has been a vital foundation for the ongoing external support provided to #Ukraine.

24/ This blending of #leadership & global influence is what makes Zelensky a rare leader. And it is what also makes him essential to the defence of his nation, the protection of democracy more broadly, and the finest leader of the 21st century so far. End. mickryan.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-tw…

25/ You can read a longer version of this at my #Substack (its free). Thank you to the following who images were used in this thread: @KyivIndependent @CNN @wartranslated @IAPonomarenko @washingtonpost @ZelenskyyUa