How could it be any other way when the cover of Time magazine this week was inspired by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? The title of the publication is “Volodimir Zelensky and Ukraine’s Heroes.” Over the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, though, another headline in a larger font sticks out. It is written in Ukrainian rather than English, and deciphering its meaning necessitates a thorough examination of the text.
“Life will triumph death, and light will conquer darkness,” said one of the words in the Ukrainian president’s message to the European Union Parliament this Tuesday from his bunker in Kiev. A letter of encouragement to the Ukrainian resistance, which has remained defiant in the face of Russian aggression.
Simon Shuster, the author of the lengthy article that gives the magazine’s edition its name, He begins by describing a conversation he had with Zelensky in April 2021, while accompanying the president to a battlefront in the separatist Donetsk area. “What concerns me is the possibility that his (Russia’s) goals will not be curtailed. There could be a larger military strategy “, he remembered the president telling him at the time.
Vladimir Putin would proclaim the start of a military operation in eastern Ukraine less than ten months later, which would eventually besiege Kiev. Zelensky was confronted with the circumstance at that point. “Not only did he rally his own people to defend his country, encouraging them to throw Molotov cocktails at Russian military vehicles and block tanks. He also helped to strengthen the world’s democracies in ways that were inconceivable just a week ago “He was commended by the journalist.
Later in the text, the text relates to the leader’s speech before the European Parliament, during which he uttered the line that appears on the cover of this magazine. “Zelensky gave a speech to the European Parliament through video link. ‘Prove you’re with us,’ he said through an interpreter, who appeared to be crying as he interpreted the president’s statements. ‘Prove you won’t abandon us.’ Prove that you are European, and life will triumph over death, and light will triumph over darkness “, he wrote
Later, Shuster produced a brief biography of Zelensky, claiming that the president now “spends his days underground, in bunkers and cellars, appearing from time to time to bolster the nation’s spirits, often on social media,” despite the Russian army’s onslaught.
He also went over each of the days since Russia launched the assault. Some of the events he recounted included “images of devastation,” “dozens of dead, including children,” “artillery hitting residential neighborhoods,” and “Ukrainians standing their own, demolishing columns of armored vehicles.”
He concluded the piece by praising Zelensky’s heroism and endurance, as well as the entire Ukrainian people’s resistance: “They became role models for the kind of courage we all wish to possess. when we are summoned You can’t fake that type of bravery, and there’s no way of knowing if we have it until it’s too late.”