'I need ammunition, not a ride': Zelenskyy is the hero his country needs as Russia invades

Often heroes come from unexpected places. That is certainly the case with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

The president's social media posts of himself, and with his advisers, have caught the world's attention. No longer dressed in the blue and gray suits of bureaucrats, Zelenskyy now makes his appearances in green fatigues. The message is clear: He is battle-ready. While many wondered whether the president would survive the night as Russia bombarded the country's capitol, Saturday morning Zelenskyy appeared in a self-filmed video in Kyiv telling the world that he doesn't want to flee his country.

"I need ammunition, not a ride," he said in Ukrainian. A phrase the world must never forget.

"I don't know if he's a hero but he is the leader of our nation now." That's what Konstantin Novikov, a 38-year-old yoga teacher told me in a private online chat. "What is most important is that he speaks directly and openly, not like a politician. He says it like it is. He says no one will protect us. The whole world only sympathizes and worries, like Poland in 1939." 

From outsider to hero president

Not all Ukrainians support Zelenskyy, not even now. But it would seem that he has endeared himself to many who were less than thrilled about having an actor with no experience in politics as a president.  

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"He definitely grew in my eyes," said Rita Zenchuk, a civil servant in her mid-30s who lives in Western Ukraine. "I wasn't his fan before the war started. But I praise him and his teamwork. The way they have handled this crisis situation. ... Plus, in general, there is a sense of unity in the country on the one hand. We're inspired by the efforts of our army." 

Zelenskyy is an establishment outsider, a man who played a president on television who cleaned up corruption in a political satire called "Servant of the People". The series aired from 2015 to 2019, when Zelenskyy ran, and then beat, the pro-Western candidate and technocrat Petro Poroshenko, in the country's presidential elections. 

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Like any political figure anywhere, Zelenskyy does not have everyone's support. 

Erik Ossell is an American writer with a degree in political science and life coach living in Barcelona. His fiancee is Ukrainian and escaped the country the night before the attack. He explained the situation this way: "Similar to Trump supporters in the U.S., at least before the invasion there was still a big percentage, about 15-20 percent I'd say, of Ukrainians that had a strong affinity for Russia; they didn't want their cities to be bombed in the same way traditional Republicans didn't agree with an insurrection on the capitol. Nevertheless, in the same way that many members of the GOP feel a close connection to the man who invoked a siege on the U.S. capitol, there is an important percentage of Ukrainians that feel a strong affinity for Russia. Now that support for Russia is down to the single digits. But still, you can't discount them in the same way you can't discount Trump supporters." 

Zelenskyy's nerves of steel

The situation has changed dramatically in a matter of days. Alliances have shifted seismically. Zelenskyy's messages about needing to survive the night and needing "ammunition, not a ride," seem to have helped garner more world support. Saturday morning Zelenskyy Tweeted a message to the government of Turkey thanking it for blocking Russian warships in the Black Sea. Turkey has denied that it helped Ukraine and told the Financial Times that Ankara was still assessing its position. 

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One thing is clear – President Zelenskyy has proven himself in time of war. He had no political experience, no military preparation, but he has nerves of steel and the courage to lead his countrymen in a time of terrifying violence. Zelenskyy is a modern-day David facing Goliath. 

Almost overnight he went from fiction to non-fiction, and the worst kind of non-fiction. He is risking his life for his country and his people and showing the utmost courage in the face of Putin's belligerence and madness. 

President Zelenskyy is the best Ukraine could hope for at the moment. God save Ukraine. God protect their president. 

Carli Pierson is an attorney, former professor of human rights, writer and member of Paste BN's Editorial Board. You can follow her on Twitter: @CarliPiersonEsq