A viral photo that turned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into an international war hero is actually one year old – and was taken in peacetime.
The image of a pin-up president dressed in military gear is shared by thousands of people around the world after the war with Russia erupted on friday.
His courage in the face of a powerful Russian attack has been praised around the world as he leads his nation in the battle of her life against the president. Vladimir Putin.
Media personality Todd Sampson uses the image to compare President Zelensky’s response to the Russian invasion with the prime minister Scott MorrisonHawaiian vacation in the midst of Black Summer 2019 Forest fires.
But the reality is that the inspiring photo was actually taken long before Russian tanks headed for Kyiv – and he has shown much more courage since then.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has become an international military hero because of this photo of him visiting troops in the Donbass region last year
Australian media personality Todd Sampson has sparked a heated debate online after comparing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to Scott Morrison in this tweet (pictured)
The photo of the former comedian, who turned into a politician wearing a bulletproof vest and walking purposefully while casually wearing his helmet, was actually taken on April 9, 2021.
It was taken by an official photographer during a routine trip to visit the armed forces near the front line with Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donbass region, with the war still close for a year.
Since then, the president has won the world over by the way he viewed Russia as Putin threatened to take over his country and persecute him.
President Zelensky has been repeatedly seen in the midst of action, even drinking tea with his troops on the front lines as they repel Russian invaders (pictured)
President Zelenski rejected proposals by Western governments to take him out of the country to safety, and insisted he would stay to fight with his compatriots.
He has been seen many times in the midst of the action, even drinking tea with his troops on the front lines as they repel the Russian invaders.
On Monday, it was reported that Putin had already recruited a gang of 400 hired Russian assassins based in Africa to track him down and execute him.
Private militia, known as Wagner’s group, allegedly has personal orders from Putin to remove Zelensky – and 23 other government figures – to allow Moscow to finally take over its neighbor.
The Wagner Group (pictured in Syria) has conducted covert operations in Africa and the Middle East, including Syria, and is now said to be targeting the president of Ukraine.
According to timesthe mercenary army led by oligarch Yevgeny Prigogine – a close ally of the Russian president, often referred to as “Putin’s cook” – was sent five weeks ago and offered a huge sum for the mission.
Highly trained operatives are said to be waiting for the Kremlin to shed the green light, and the list of those killed includes Ukraine’s prime minister, the entire cabinet, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Vladimir – both boxing champions who have become iconic. figures on the front line of the capital.
However, the plans shook as they reached the top echelons of the Ukrainian government on Saturday morning.
This prompted Kyiv to declare a 36-hour “hard” curfew, ordering everyone to enter indoors so that soldiers could sweep the streets for Russian saboteurs.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) publishes daily video messages to his compatriots, raises morale and tells them to believe in their country
Citizens were warned that they risked being “liquidated” if they were spotted outside during curfew, as they could be presumed to be enemies.
A source familiar with the Wagner group’s activities said that between 2,000 and 4,000 mercenaries arrived in Ukraine in January, but with different missions.
Some were sent to rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east of the country – while the 400 tasked with removing Zelensky headed for Kyiv from Belarus.
The group allegedly tracked Zelesnkyy and his colleagues via their mobile phones and claimed to know where they were at all times.
Another source claims that the assassins were told to stop the brakes while Putin held “peace talks” with Zelensky this week.
However, they are said to have been told that the Russian leader has no desire to reach a deal, branding the border meeting with Belarus as “smoke and mirrors”.
The news of their assassination plans does not seem to embarrass Zelensky, who admitted that he was the “number one target” in an address to the nation, telling them that Russian special forces were pursuing him.
A fragment of a destroyed Russian tank is seen on the road on the outskirts of Kharkov on February 26, 2022.
A dramatic video shows a destroyed Z-marked Russian convoy near Kherson in southern Ukraine
His wife, Olena, 44, and two children, aged 17 and 9, are hiding – but still in the country – amid fears that the Kremlin wants to wipe out or close Ukraine’s entire political class.
President Zelensky later shared footage of him and other senior members of his party walking the streets of Kyiv in preparation for battle with Russian troops.
When the United States offered to remove it, he told President Joe Biden, “I need ammunition, not transportation.”
Wagner has conducted covert operations in Africa and the Middle East, including Syria, and most recently they were on the ground in Ukraine to direct Russian tanks to the capital.
Despite the lower military power, Ukraine has given an incredible battle, with experts saying that Russia will be left without money and weapons if Kyiv (pictured) manages to last 10 days
General Sir Richard Barnes, former Commander of the Joint Force Command, said: “They are very effective because they are difficult to determine.
“They can emerge from the shadows, do a lot of violent things and then disappear again, without it being obvious who is responsible. They are not directly related to the Russian government and are therefore plausible.
Sources told the Times that the militia had been informed of Putin’s plans for Ukraine back in December, long before it was told to the Russian military.
Soldiers and generals were afraid to oppose the invasion plans, and several were executed, the mercenaries said.
In a video address Saturday, President Zelenski promised: “We will fight as long as necessary to liberate the country.”
He said a baby girl was born on Saturday night in the Kyiv subway tunnels used as a bomb shelter.
“If children are born in shelters, even when the shelling continues, then the enemy has no chance,” he said. ‘To victory! Glory to Ukraine! ‘
President Zelensky has vowed to “destroy the occupiers” and the people of Kyiv appear to be fully mobilized to fight to the death.
As they huddled in air attack shelters, civilian teams worked at night, making Molotov cocktails to use against Russian forces.
44-year-old President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky won praise for his disobedience in refusing to leave Kyiv
Although it has lower military power, Ukraine is waging an incredible battle, with experts saying Russia will run out of money and weapons if Kyiv can hold out for 10 days.
President Zelensky took to Instagram yesterday to congratulate the Daily Mail on Ukraine’s coverage.
Next to the post, he wrote: “The whole world knows the truth. The whole world hears it. The whole world is behind us and we feel it.
This happened when two Russian billionaires became the first powerful oligarchs to speak out and call for an end to the conflict.
Mikhail Friedman, a native of western Ukraine, and Oleg Deripaska condemned Putin’s invasion, calling for peace talks “as soon as possible” between the two countries in an unusual intervention by Russia’s leading business elite.
Billionaire Mikhail Friedman (pictured), who was born in western Ukraine, said the war was a “tragedy” for both sides.
Oleg Deripaska (pictured) also condemned Putin’s invasion, calling for peace talks “as soon as possible” in the unusual intervention of Russia’s leading business elite
Mr Friedman, co-founder of Russia’s largest private bank, Alpha, which controls private investment company LetterOne, has called for an end to the bloodshed.
The 57-year-old, who was ranked as the 128th richest man in the world by Forbes in 2021, also said the war was a “tragedy” for people on both sides and told LetterOne officials in a letter that the conflict leads to a wedge between the two eastern Slavic peoples of Russia and Ukraine, which have been brothers for centuries.
He wrote: “I was born in western Ukraine and lived there until I was 17 years old. My parents are Ukrainian citizens and live in Lviv, my favorite city.
“But I also spent much of my life as a citizen of Russia, building and developing business. I am deeply attached to the Ukrainian and Russian people and I see the current conflict as a tragedy for both.
Meanwhile, billionaire Mr Deripaska – who is the founder of Russian aluminum giant Rusal, in which he still owns a stake in the parent company En + Group – used a Telegram post to call for peace talks to begin “as soon as possible” .
The 54-year-old simply said, “Peace is very important.”
The so-called Russian oligarchs, who once had significant influence over President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, are facing economic chaos after the West imposed heavy sanctions on Russia over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.