Volodymyr Zelenskiy Needs to Rescue His Own Presidency
A misstep on corruption has punctured his once heroic image.
Volodymyr Zelensky during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome this month.
Photographer: Antonio Masiello/Getty Images EuropeUkraine’s president, the comedian turned Churchillian war leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has backed down on his decision to seize control of the nation’s anti-corruption agencies. That averts a potential disaster for his country, and he deserves some credit for making the U-turn. But what to do with him now?
Zelenskiy’s heroic armor has been shattered. His misstep should serve as a reminder that he wasn’t a popular president before Russia’s full invasion of February 2022, with an approval rating that hovered around 25%. It was his response to the war, both genuinely gritty and brilliantly produced by the presidential staff he’d drawn from his old TV company, Kvartal 95, that made him a geopolitical rock star.