Heading into battle in Ukraine, Russian forces mark their equipment with a single letter signifying their objective. There have been different interpretations of the letter “Z” being used on Russian vehicles – one is that it represents the first letter of “Za pobedy”, which means “For victory” in Russian. But for others, who saw Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky describe himself as Russia’s “target number one”, the giant “Z” would seem to confirm that toppling Zelensky is first and foremost on Vladimir Putin’s otherwise unreadable mind.
Outside Ukraine, Zelensky has become the global figurehead and focus of Ukrainian resistance, something underlined by the British parliament’s recent decision to ask the Ukraine president to address MPs in the House of Commons via videolink.
Zelensky’s path to power could not be more different than that of the man pursuing him. Putin rose through the ranks of the KGB to build his power base under the chaotic leadership of former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Meanwhile, the 44-year-old Ukrainian president, now embraced by the world and at home as a heroic war leader, was first an immensely successful comedian, film actor and sitcom star, who had perfected the role of the everyman.
