Act Daily News
—
On the final week earlier than the Gregorian Christmas, the optics of Russia’s battle in Ukraine have taken on a unique dynamic and display that the battle just isn’t solely being fought on the frigid frontlines in Ukraine, however can be changing into one thing of a PR tit-for-tat.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has harnessed the media to change into an ever-present determine on screens the world over, beaming himself into parliaments, conferences and even music festivals.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, a previous grasp of propaganda, is driving his personal agenda via his absolute management of Russian state media. Comparisons between the 2 present a chasm that will mirror the bigger narrative of the battle.
Last Friday, based on the Kremlin, Putin “spent all day working at the joint staff of military branches involved in the special military operation.”
But the one pictures that emerged had been of Putin on the head of a desk of generals, wearing a navy go well with and tie, listening to army chiefs who kowtow to his each whim. There was no point out of a location for this assembly, no readout, nor did the President make any public feedback.
Zelensky, in contrast, broadcast his location to the world.
He spent Tuesday morning on the frozen frontlines, visiting troops within the beleaguered city of Bakhmut. The location was vital: Zelensky and his generals have repeatedly mentioned this a part of the 1,300km-long frontline in Ukraine sees probably the most persistent and lethal combating. Dressed in khaki fatigues, he known as his troopers “superhuman.”
Zelensky isn’t any stranger to the frontlines within the east of his nation. Last week he posted a selfie-video from the city of Slovyansk. Perhaps that go to prompted the Kremlin into motion.
On Sunday the Russian Defense Ministry launched a video purporting to point out Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspecting the troops concerned within the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.
But the video was not labeled as being from any specific area. Nor did it reveal any figuring out areas. In truth, the one factor it revealed in any respect was Shoigu in a helicopter, and that Russia nonetheless has some functioning helicopters.
The starkest of contrasts got here this week.
On Tuesday in Moscow, Vladimir Putin handed out medals within the gilded halls of the Kremlin – once more, clad in a darkish go well with and maroon tie. The honors, together with a crimson sash, had been bestowed on the Russian-installed leaders of the occupied areas of Ukraine: Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The hand-wringing and bouquet-brandishing couldn’t have been extra at odds with how President Zelensky wrapped up his go to to Bakhmut. Standing in a secret underground location, he handed out medals to troopers, weapons slung throughout their shoulders, risking their lives in protection.
From Bakhmut, Zelensky delivered rousing phrases: “The East is holding out because Bakhmut is fighting. This is the fortress of our morale. In fierce battles and at the cost of many lives, freedom is being defended here for all of us. Bakhmut defenders deserve our maximum support and our highest gratitude.”
But the coup de grâce was delivered by Zelensky’s workplace in a press assertion on Tuesday night. “The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy started an official visit to the United States of America,” it learn.
There is little coincidence that Zelensky has determined to make the US his first official go to outdoors of Ukraine for the reason that 300 day-old battle.
On Monday, President Putin made a uncommon journey to Minsk, Belarus, to go to his ally, President Alexander Lukashenko, usually ascribed the moniker of Europe’s final dictator. The two males, seen as pariahs by giant swaths of the Western world, had been seen hugging on a crimson carpet on a frozen morning at an airport in Minsk.
In distinction, Zelensky will shake palms with – and perhaps even hug – the chief of the world’s strongest nation, the free world, communicate to reporters on the South Lawn, signal a momentous protection package deal which incorporates the important Patriot air-defense programs, which the Kremlin has described as being a “red line”, and provides an handle to Congress.
It is the last word flex from Zelensky to Putin and never an insignificant achievement for his first journey outdoors the nation for the reason that battle started.