The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been named the “Person of the Year” for 2022 by TIME Magazine.
TIME announced on social media that Zelensky would be featured on the front cover of its next issue as the prestigious “Person of the Year” and “the spirit of Ukraine.”
In February, when Russia invaded Zelensky’s country as part of President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation,” his name was known all over the world.
Many people around the world were moved by how Zelensky and the people of Ukraine fought against the much larger Russian army.
TIME's 2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky and the spirit of Ukraine #TIMEPOY https://t.co/06Y5fuc0fG pic.twitter.com/i8ZT3d5GDa
— TIME (@TIME) December 7, 2022
Simon Shuster, a journalist who has spent a lot of time with Zelensky this year and wrote the story that goes with the magazine, says:
“Zelensky’s success as a wartime leader has relied on the fact that courage is contagious. It spread through Ukraine’s political leadership in the first days of the invasion, as everyone realized the President had stuck around. If that seems like a natural thing for a leader to do in a crisis, consider historical precedent.”
In the story, it is also said that the President has spent most of this year away from his wife and children because his presence makes them afraid for their safety.
Zelensky also thinks that “it would be wrong for them to go back to their daily routines while so many Ukrainian families are still split up by the war.”
At the time of the invasion, reports said that Zelensky refused to leave his country, even though he was given the chance to do so. Instead, the 44-year-old stayed in Ukraine.
He told 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley:
I don’t want to make myself out to be a hero. I love my family. I want to live many more years, but choosing between running or being with my people, of course, I’m ready to give my life for my country.
Since the invasion started in February, many people in Ukraine have had to leave their homes. The UN said that almost 12 million people would need “relief and protection” inside the country, and millions more would need protection as they fled to neighboring countries.
A source says that the President used to be an actor and comedian before he went into politics. In the second round, he beat Petro Poroshenko by a huge margin, getting 73% of the vote.
The Times Person Of The Year award goes to the person “who affected the news or our lives the most, for better, or worse.” Barack Obama, Greta Thunberg, and Elon Musk, who got it last year, were all past winners.
At the end of his interview with Simon Shuster, Zelensky said:
I have not finished this great, important action for our country. Not yet.
