Ukraine

Ukrainians are proving themselves to be skilled communicators, and they have mobilized nearly the entire world around their cause. 

This online video from the Armed Forces of Ukraine highlights the extreme bravery displayed by everyday people who have been called to arms.  It is unclear who the target audience is, exactly, but its appeal would seem to transcend national borders.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emerged as a global symbol of courage.  His clandestine message from last Thursday, as Russians approached Kyiv, was riveting and widely acclaimed.  In this thread, people offer reasons why they think the video was so galvanizing.  

Perhaps something about his dramatic use of pauses and his repetition of the words “is here / are here” and “glory to” that imbue it with emotional urgency – as perhaps does the lighting, the clothing the men are wearing, and the proud defiance that comes through in the language and facial expressions.  

And then there are the hero stories that Ukraine has publicized.   

• There is a homemade video from two Ukrainian soldiers that has the feeling of a hip-hop diss track, where they dare Russians to enter Kyiv and warn them of the dangers that await them.

• The story of one soldier, part of a small team of border guards on Snake Island, telling a Russian officer, “Go F*** Yourself,” before allegedly being killed. (Although now it seems maybe those guards survived, after all.)

• There is the story of the soldier who sacrificed his own life to destroy a bridge and delay Russian tanks from invading the country.

All of this seems calculated to give Ukrainian citizens a sense of resolve in the face of what, at first, seemed like incalculably long odds. It is brilliant storytelling, full of emotion, and says (without saying it) that courage in the face of fear is the ultimate form of strength.